A nurse is preparing to administer medication to a client and discovers that a nurse on the previous shift gave the client a wrong dose of the medication. Which of the following actions should the nurse take?

When a medication error is discovered, the immediate priorities are ensuring client safety, notifying the provider, and completing an incident report in a timely manner. Facility policy typically requires that an incident or variance report be completed within 24 hours of discovering the error. This confidential quality-improvement document triggers a review process that helps prevent recurrence. It is correct to file the report promptly. Calling the nurse who made the error is not an appropriate immediate action; the focus must be on the affected client, and personnel issues are handled through the management chain, not peer-to-peer confrontation by a colleague. Placing the incident report in the client's medical record is explicitly incorrect; incident reports are internal quality documents and are kept separate from the medical record to maintain their confidentiality and to protect them from discovery in litigation. Notifying the pharmacist within 1 hour is not a standard facility requirement for a discovered error; the prescribing provider must be notified first so that clinical decisions about the client's care can be made. Filing the incident report within 24 hours is therefore the correct action.