crap...am I in huge trouble???

1. 1 So im in orientation and I started the sink to warm up the water and got called out of the room...........you guessed it I forgot and when i came back 5- 10 minutes later the entire hospital room was COVERED in water. We called house keeping and cleaned it up it took about 20 towels and i thought it was all over but then another patient started having water seeping in....so we called maintenance but then it was change of shift so i left. I just assumed that the sink had the secondary drain ....bad assumption. I feel like a complete idiot and am worried im going to get fired over my stupid mistake.

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2. 75 Comments

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3. 
   #1 10

   Nov 23, '11 by nurseprnRN

   probably not. but you'll never go off and leave the water running again, will ya?:d
   
   (i once raised up a bed under the little bedside shelf where the defibrillator lived and dropped five thousand bucks worth of electronics on the floor. they didn't fire me for it. accidents happen. nobody hurt... and i learned to be more careful of where electric beds are going.)
4. 
   #2 7

   Nov 23, '11 by diva rn

   Your biggest mistake was not in flooding the room but in leaving and not owing up to the incident. You should have reported this to the nursing supervisor and written up an incident report for maintenance if that was required. This was very unprofessional and looks bad, especially since you were in orientation. As a former DON I would be very disappointed. Again, not in the accident, those things happen but in just leaving? It looks like you were sneaking out.
5. 
   #3 27

   Nov 23, '11 by SuesquatchRN

   Why would she even think to do an incident report? She said "we" called housekeeping so MY assumption is that she notified everyone who needed to know.
   
   No, you won't get fired.
   
   
6. 
   #4 4

   Nov 23, '11 by Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN

   Nah. Accidents happen you probably are not the or the last person to flood a floor.
   I was working once where a nurse started to run the water for something, but then had to run out to help there other 3 of us deal with a post op pt with severe delerium. As we were dealing with him once of us glanced down the hall to see this flood of water coming out of the room she had left the water running in. And, we had carpetted halls in those days so it was a huge mess to clean up!
7. 
   #5 3

   Nov 23, '11 by brandy1017

   I don't think she was sneaking out they called for help and were cleaning it up.
   
   I doubt you would be fired over that. Relax! Just pay more attention next time!
8. 
   #6 5

   Nov 23, '11 by Rnis

   Im sorry how did I not take ownership of it, i cleaned it up as well as called housekeeping as well as had my preceptor come in....when the other room reported leaking water I told them what had happened in our room and had maintenance come.
9. 
   #7 1

   Nov 23, '11 by diva rn

   I meant a notification to maintenance, not an incident report....sorry...my facility required written forms...that's all.
   and no, you won't be fired...
10. 
    #8 3

    Nov 23, '11 by blondy2061h, MSN, RN

    Highly doubt you'll get fired. I've done worse
11. 
    #9 12

    Nov 23, '11 by caliotter3

    If they fire you for that it isn't a place where you want to work anyway. At least you know they will never forget you.
12. 
    #10 3

    Nov 23, '11 by realnursealso/LPN, LPN

    Long ago at my first hospital job,we had a trapeeze on the bed. It had a big metal frame it hooked to. I went to raise the bed for an ortho patient, forgot about the frame, and ripped the bedside lamp right off the wall. Thankfully the patient was not in the bed.......lol. I didn't get fired, but I never did it again, bet you always turn the water off every time now.
13. 
    #11 6

    Nov 23, '11 by noyesno, BSN, RN

    I did the same thing this week (patient was trying to pee and could not so I ran the water for them)! I guess our drains don't drain and water flooded the bathroom, half of the patient's room, and part of the carpet in the hallway. Cleaned it up quickly in about 20 minutes. Used a lot of blankets and towels to absorb the water. Nursing supervisor and charge nurse were made aware of the situation and thought it was funny. Another nurse on my floor did this before too. I wouldn't worry too much.
    
    Also, I did this at my parent's house one time too. My dog likes to drink out of the sink. I plugged the drain, ran the water, and forgot about it for about 45 minutes. Flooded my parent's bathroom, their walk-in closet, and bedroom. We had just gotten new carpet the week before so I was freaking out. My mom, sister, and I cleaned it up in about three hours.
    
    Wow, I should probably stop doing this. Yikes.
14. 
    #12 15

    Nov 23, '11 by xtxrn

    My first hospital job (6 months out of school)....
    
    - I pulled up the floor wax when tossing rubbing alcohol on a huge roach (no bug killer, and to step on it would have been like sliding across the floor on a banana peel- TX roach)
    
    - dyed the ceiling tiles blue with methylene blue (used to use for tube feeding dye, to see if a patient had aspirated formula) when I tried to put the leftover AMPULE into an empty sterile water VIAL.... didn't pressurize well, and the needle flew out, spraying the ceiling.... permanently.
    
    - I didn't get fired.
    
    - housekeeping hated me

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