[reyna]

my biggest mistake was...going to nursing school just kidding

[Agnus]

I'm having anxiety attacks just reading these.
My biggest thing is we are so poorly staffed when you consider what can easily go wrong with one patient. Or even God forbid more than one. I gotta stop this I am in such a panic now.

[hotmama]

The unit I work on is a oncology unit, although we also get medical pts as well. We had a new RN that had been pulled from another floor on night shift, and she was assigned a pt who had been on our floor 2 days. This pt was in for etoh abuse, and had been going through DT's, and was recieving ativan iv. He had not slept for days. The nurse also had a ca pt who was receiving dilaudid for pain control. She had drawn up in two syringes the ativan and dilaudid to save time, and gave the dilaudid to the etoh pt by mistake. The pt went out, but was breathing. All night the pt slept, and the nurse didn't take vitals or disturb the pt because the charge nurse on nights told her to not disturb him since he had not slept in days. The new rn had tried to wake him, but he would not wake up. When The narcotic count was being done, it was discovered that the nurse had given the wrong med to the wrong pt. Still no one checked on this pt. When we got out of report for day shift, I went in to assess this pt and I could not wake him up, not knowing what had happened on night shift because it was not passed on in report and the night nurses had already left, The pt sat was in the 50's, and had probably been there for a long time. The New rn, and the assistant nurse manager both lost their license. The pt is a vegtable still in our hospital, not on our floor of course.

[RNKITTY04]

OMG Whata nightmare!

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by hotmama

The New rn, and the assistant nurse manager both lost their license. The pt is a vegtable still in our hospital, not on our floor of course.

Yikes. What a nightmare indeed. Question, why did the assistant nurse manager loose his/her license?

[?burntout]

Originally Posted by hotmama

The unit I work on is a oncology unit, although we also get medical pts as well. We had a new RN that had been pulled from another floor on night shift, and she was assigned a pt who had been on our floor 2 days. This pt was in for etoh abuse, and had been going through DT's, and was recieving ativan iv. He had not slept for days. The nurse also had a ca pt who was receiving dilaudid for pain control. She had drawn up in two syringes the ativan and dilaudid to save time, and gave the dilaudid to the etoh pt by mistake. The pt went out, but was breathing. All night the pt slept, and the nurse didn't take vitals or disturb the pt because the charge nurse on nights told her to not disturb him since he had not slept in days. The new rn had tried to wake him, but he would not wake up. When The narcotic count was being done, it was discovered that the nurse had given the wrong med to the wrong pt. Still no one checked on this pt. When we got out of report for day shift, I went in to assess this pt and I could not wake him up, not knowing what had happened on night shift because it was not passed on in report and the night nurses had already left, The pt sat was in the 50's, and had probably been there for a long time. The New rn, and the assistant nurse manager both lost their license. The pt is a vegtable still in our hospital, not on our floor of course.

[?burntout]

I know I've made mistakes. I can't recall my worst one at the moment.

I really do not like the days I go home wondering if I did this or that...those are the days that scare me.

[LPN2BSN]

I was working LTC and we had just got this elderly couple. The man was very very aggitated. He drew back like he was going to hit me. I place a call to his doctor (without pulling the chart) and his usual Dr. was out of town so I got the Dr. on call. I told him what was going on with the elder and he tells me to give him 1mg of ativan po now. I call the RN supervisor and get the Ativan, take it back to him, he takes it, and I go to write the order. When I pull the chart, in big red letters is ALLERGY: ATIVAN I called the Dr. back and ask him for something else...he gives me an order for a non-narc. med. I go to the nurse I am working with, I feel hot and sweaty and on the verge of vomiting, I become hysterical and she tells me "Sweety, we'll fix this...come with me" So we look up how it effected the elder (gave him heartburn) and she tells me that we will keep it quiet just to watch him. He did become very very sleepy...but he did sleep through the night and felt better the next day. I learned very very quickly to CTCFA...(Check The Chart For Allergies)
I still feel guilty about that.

[MandyInMS]

Originally Posted by mattsmom81

Hugs to all nurses. Sometimes the hardest thing is forgiving ourselves...but we are all very human and perfection is not an option. Something many facilities and managers seem to dispute.

That is SOOOO true...no one can be any harder than we are on ourselves.

[Nursie30]

Boy, admitting is hard, but we know we have to do that, forgiving ourselves is almost impossible.
I was fresh out of LPN school, working evening shift by myself, pt chokes in dining room, I called out for a code status, the SSD went and checked the chart, running back in and yelling, "She's a Full Code" so I began CPR, the pt was revived, the EMT's arrived, and about 30 minutes later the hospital calls, and notifies us that the pt was a DNR on their records. I went to check her chart, and although there was no yellow flag in front of chart, or a sticker, or even an order on the current MAR, looking back about a year, there it was, the Doctor had wrote an order for her to be DNR d/t terminal illness, it was never pulled forward. She was in the hospital for about a wk, and I was so worried about the state that she would be in when she came back, but she came back as the same old fiesty lady, which made me feel better. But just imagine, the adrenaline of the code, excited about actually doing a code successfully, people patting me on the back, feeling 10 ft tall, and then the call saying that she was a DNR.
So....my big ole soap box wherever I work is asking what the status is, asking what the family wants if they've changed their mind with decline in conditions, and making the SSD aware, nurses, CNA's, whoever what a pt's code status is.....it was a horrifying experience....

On the lighter side, I have inserted a foley in the wrong "umm" area, and reported no output at end of shift, to have dayshift find out, I wasn't a very good mark.

And we all know how scary it is when you realize that you have given the wrong meds to the wrong pt, fearing the worse, not wanting to call the doctor, and kicking yourself the whole time knowing that is was just plain dumb, or rushing or whatever.......
To the RN that quit because of the Insulin? You really need to get over this, 50 Units was a tad bit too high, but we all make mistakes, don't give up something you love......that is so sad......you are probably a very competant nurse, obviously caring if it has affected you this much, go back to doing what you love.....