Place the nursing actions in order after discovering that a client received rapid-acting insulin instead of the prescribed long-acting insulin.
Ordered Response
Choose your responses, then check the answer.
Explanation
Assess the client and define the exposure first. Rapidly involve the clinician and pharmacist and begin the approved hypoglycemia pathway when indicated. Continue nutrition or dextrose treatment and serial glucose monitoring across the risk window. Communicate the event and plan honestly according to policy, then complete factual charting and the separate safety report.
Correct sequence Assess the client and exposure → mobilize treatment resources → treat and monitor through the risk window → communicate openly → document and report for learning.
Why this is correct The first priority after a medication error is preventing or limiting harm, not completing an incident form. Insulin can cause delayed or recurrent hypoglycemia, so one normal glucose value does not end surveillance.
NCLEX decision rule Patient care comes first. Use objective facts, preserve separate clinical and safety-reporting functions, and do not conceal the event.
References
1AHRQ PSNet: Responding to Patient Safety Events
2FDA insulin lispro prescribing information
High-alert medication eventThe incorrect insulin was administered 20 minutes ago. The client is awake and has IV access. Use the facility's hypoglycemia, medication-event, disclosure, and reporting processes while preventing further harm.
High-Alert Medication — A medication for which an error carries a heightened risk of serious patient harm.
Risk Window — The period during which the medication's onset, peak, and duration can produce clinically important harm.
Safety Report — A nonpunitive event record used for investigation, data tracking, and system improvement apart from the clinical chart.