Samantha’s courage to speak up stopped dangerous over-medication
Despite only having worked for Dimensions for a matter of weeks Samantha confidently flagged up that medication she was due to administer had been labelled incorrectly by the local pharmacy; preventing a potentially dangerous over-medication situation.
Samantha came to work for Dimensions in March 2019 with no previous experience of care work. Before working for Dimensions Samantha had been working in retail while studying Diagnostic Radiography at university and raising her daughter. But after choosing to leave university Samantha started working for Dimensions as a Support Worker, impressively completing 90% of her essential training before she had even started working and reaching 100% within her first week.
Regional administrator Terri said
Whilst working one Friday evening, Samantha was administering evening medication to a person we support, but quickly noticed an error on the printing stating double the recommended dosage.
Samantha immediately flagged this up with her manager, logged it in their medication records and administered the correct dosage. The following day the person was supported to visit the hospital to have a check up and ensure all was well, following the pharmacy’s error.
Since then the support team has changed to a different pharmacy, who have been more reliable. They have experienced no further errors. The team also now count medication together and those who hadn’t noticed the incorrect label are undergoing re-training.
Though it’s a big change from her previous roles and Samantha came with no previous experience, she says, “I love working for Dimensions. My team and the people we support are brilliant. It’s wonderful to work for an organisation that cares about people and appreciates its employees.”
Samantha adds, “It’s an honour to be nominated for an Inspiring People award and it just goes to show that, no matter how long you’ve been here, you can still make a difference.”