New Grads-What are some of the silliest things youve done so far?!?!

[GrnHonu99]

:smackingf :smackingf Ok-so im a new grad. Still in orientation. Thank goodness my preceptor keeps me in line, however, I still do dumb stuff all the time, lol.

Last week, while drawing blood off the A-line and attempting to do glucose testing...I squirted myself with blood, and another time all over the wall...and other time all over sink. However, in my defense, that was only 3 times out of like 100 that I did it well...lol.

Yesterday I was drawing labs off my A-line and it must have been 0400 bc I decided not to take the test tube out of that, um, plastic thing that kind looks like a needle that you put the test tube in (omg thats awful, I dont even know what the name of it is :smackingf) then I took it out of the aline...oops...blood all over again. Grrr. lol.

Oh, then I was priming a line, and normally i'm good at this...yeah except the time this week I let it run all over the floor...duh. Oh, once I was trying to draw up some water to put down the NG tube...I couldnt for anything get the water to go into the syringe...hmmm...the cap was still on...ugh I felt stupid.:monkeydance:

Some other things: I suck at giving shift report and I sound like an idiot when I talk to doctors.

On my second night shift (the first I drank waaay to much coffee) I almost fell asleep on my station.

I do lots of stuff well too, lol. Im just waiting for the day when I screw up something with the foley and urine ends up everywhere. So, now that you all think i'm idiot, share your stories too so I dont feel as bad:) lol

ps really, im not doing that bad lol.

[xt1]

That's how we learn... trial and error. There is no such thing as 100% perfection but everything becomes easy with repetition. So... In order to get good at doing something we have to do it not so good over and over each time getting a litter better at what we do. Its all a process of learning. So every chance you get expose yourself to the things you'd like to become good at

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

I meant to tell the doctor about changing the pts medication which was Clonidine. But I really asked if we could change him over to Clomid (a fertility medicine). Guess everyone knew what I had on my mind!

I forgot to put propofol up with vented tubing. A couple of minutes later when the pt was sitting up in bed about 2 inches from extubating himself, I said to my preceptor, "wow! Look at the drip chamber...it's all compressed..." She was not happy...

Accidently gave 1000cc of lactulose enema instead of 300cc. I must have said 3 times, "gees, 1000cc seems like a lot to give!". I paid the price for that mistake all day!

[Noahm]

So glad I am not the only one who does this stuff. Keep them coming guys.

[bigmona]

Accidently gave 1000cc of lactulose enema instead of 300cc. I must have said 3 times, "gees, 1000cc seems like a lot to give!". I paid the price for that mistake all day!

oooh! yuck!

i have tried to change iv bags with the bag still hanging and fluid still in it-- got a little wet doing that

also i have accidentally squirted out IV ativan all over the wall (and myself too) right after drawing it up

done many more silly things, i'm sure, but i'm sort of tired now and can't think.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

also i have accidentally squirted out IV ativan all over the wall (and myself too) right after drawing it up.

I redecorated one of our isolation rooms with rifampin once. The stains are still there to this day.

[lysh7777]

My embarrassing moment....

well I was still in nursing school...and in the med room and there were like 4 different nurses, my instructor and a fellow student. One of my patients needed Heparin, so I got out my carpujet and tried to put air into the vial of Heparin. Before I knew what was happening the whole carpujet vial of Heparin blew up sending the cork at the end of the vial flying across the room, and glass and Heparin all over the floor. Everyone turned and looked at me How embarrassing!

[tencat]

It's so nice to know I'm not alone! I had just changed the bed and the patient needed a new IV. So, I get all the IV stuff, double check to make sure I have everything. I'm thinking "I've got it. Now I'll do the IV." Proceed to stick the lady, unhook the needle, think I've got the catheter end under pressure from my finger, and get blood EVERYWHERE! I forgot to put down a towel or the &^%$ chucks (chux?). Had to change the bed again! :trout:

[augigi, CNS]

When I was a nursing student I had to give an IM analgesic injection to a delightful old lady who was very cachexic. Unfortunately, I was so nervous that I forgot to change needles after drawing up the medication, and yep gave her an IM with a 19g needle... realised my mistake when I hit bone. Ouch.

Tell you what though - I never forgot again.

[AB_NormalRN]

On a serious note....Trial and Error and OJT SHOULD NOT be 'THE' way we learn...

With that said....you shoulda seen the experienced nurses in the ER when I came out and told them I had gone ahead and Dermabonded my pts lac on his forhead! It was priceless. As an RN I can put steri-strips on a lac, I can dress and bandage a lac, I can even put bandaids on a lac....so whatz the big deal with a little dermabond? Heck, as a Paramedic I've intubated pts, ran codes, pushed meds, etc. Even though my state says an RN with training can suture, the hospital says Dermabond is suturing and only and MD can do that. On a side note---the MD said I had done a wonderful job. ARGGH!

My second funny? Throughout orientation I had torn the covering bags to the IV fluids with my hands. Just the other night I had this one covering bag that was stubborn. The only time I ever got the scissors out...and what did I do? *I can see the look on your faces coz you know what I did.* Yep, cut the tip of the bag and had D5 all over the floor.

Very frustrated at times....

AB

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

I have a little trick for that. If the bag won't tear all the way open, I tear it some, then stick the funny looking end of the scissors (the part that is made to go under a bandage, looks like a tongue) in the hole in the bag, THEN cut the bag wide open. This works well enough to do in the dark. Of course, now that I've said something, I'm probably gonna rip a bag of NS from one end to the other this week!