My medical licence is under investigation because of one exhausted mistake
Dear Delyara, After a thirty-hour shift, I entered the wrong dosage into a patient’s chart. A nurse caught it before the medication was administered, so no one was harmed. The hospital reported the incident, and my licence is now under investigation. I accept responsibility. I also know I had repeatedly warned management that the rota was unsafe. Those emails are being reviewed, but the formal letter uses only my name. I have practised medicine for fourteen years without a disciplinary issue. Now colleagues lower their voices when I enter the staff room. My husband tells me the investigation will consider the circumstances. I keep seeing the number I typed and imagining the patient receiving it. The absence of harm feels like luck I did not deserve. I became a doctor because I believed competence could protect people from chaos. One exhausted hand proved how fragile that belief was. Even if I keep my licence, I do not know whether I can trust myself near a prescription chart again.