Have you ever made a stupid mistake....?

Nurses General Nursing

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...if you have, please share your stories :) I made one tonight, and I still feel stupid. I was giving someone a bath in one of those bathtubs where the front opens like a door and you can wheel the bathchair in. Well, once I had the tub filled up, I realized the door was leaking....so silly me... i thought if I just pull the door handle and push it shut tight, the problem would be fixed. I didnt realize how forceful the water in a bathtub can be- as soon as I pulled the handle, the water shot out on me..... and our entire hallway was soon swimming. Nobody got hurt and most people seemed to just get a good laugh out of this....but I still feel like I should have seen this coming. well, actually I know I should have. I just didnt think it through. Sooooo....did anyone else ever do something incredibly stupid....? Btw, I ended up spending my break shopping for dry clothes, cause I got soaked down to my panties....lesson learned =)

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Specializes in ER.

I have made more stupid mistakes than I care to remember. Everyone is still alive and well though :up:

I can remember one of my first days in nursing school. I was taking care of a post-TURP patient. 91 years old. The huge 2000cc saline bag had about 100 cc in it and needed switched out. I unspiked the bag. Problem was I forgot to take it off the hook. I got a nice saline bath that day. And the cute 91 year old told me what I did wrong!

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Specializes in Rural Health.

LMAO!!! I've done pretty much the same thing with one of those bath tubs while in Nursing school. AND I've made way more stupid mistakes than I care to mention!

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Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.

I gave 9 Popsicles to a forgetful diabetic.

He kept asking for them because he kept forgetting that I had already given him one.

Yeah that was way smart. When the acp came to get me about his blood sugar it was sky high. That was my :banghead: moment. He was ok though.

I also did the unspike the bag while it was still on the pole. I got a nice saline bath too. :D

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Specializes in ED.
...if you have, please share your stories :) I made one tonight, and I still feel stupid. I was giving someone a bath in one of those bathtubs where the front opens like a door and you can wheel the bathchair in. Well, once I had the tub filled up, I realized the door was leaking....so silly me... i thought if I just pull the door handle and push it shut tight, the problem would be fixed. I didnt realize how forceful the water in a bathtub can be- as soon as I pulled the handle, the water shot out on me..... and our entire hallway was soon swimming. Nobody got hurt and most people seemed to just get a good laugh out of this....but I still feel like I should have seen this coming. well, actually I know I should have. I just didnt think it through. Sooooo....did anyone else ever do something incredibly stupid....? Btw, I ended up spending my break shopping for dry clothes, cause I got soaked down to my panties....lesson learned =)

I remember in one of the first clinicals we did at the nursing home, I was helping a classmate put a gentleman on the shower chair, and wouldn't you know it he let go with a massive amount of diarrhea like stool. I don't think I've seen my classmate jump so fast out of the way of the flying stool. There was poo EVERYWHERE in that room, and splatter up my scrubs. The nursing staff thought it was very humerous and said he does that every time and they have to put a plastic bag under his chair for a shower (failed to mention that to said classmate prior to the incident). Its just something we learn to laugh about later.

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Specializes in ED.
I gave 9 Popsicles to a forgetful diabetic.

He kept asking for them because he kept forgetting that I had already given him one.

Yeah that was way smart. When the acp came to get me about his blood sugar it was sky high. That was my :banghead: moment. He was ok though.

I also did the unspike the bag while it was still on the pole. I got a nice saline bath too. :D

haha, I've done that one too. Only takes one time though to learn.:yeah:

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I unspiked the bag too with it still on the pole but only once:imbar

:prdnrs:

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Specializes in HH, SNF, LTC, Hospital.

I'm just jealous b/c you have those kind of showers... we still have the step-in kind and sometimes even the shower chair is a hassle.

At least it was water and not poo!

Thanks for sharing that, I will be extra careful should I ever use that kind of tub :)

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Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC, Rehab, HH.

Your post made me laugh:) That is funny. (I learned the hard way too...to keep a pair of extra scrubs, uniform w/e in your car or bag, locker(unless you work at a hospital).:up: For the rest of your school AND career. lol)

My most embarassing mistake: putting the Oxygen tubing in the nose and OVER the head. The 91 year old says "Oh honey, this doesnt feel right." I was adjusting it as my instructor came in. She laughed but I was red.:p

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Specializes in ER.
...if you have, please share your stories :) I made one tonight, and I still feel stupid. I was giving someone a bath in one of those bathtubs where the front opens like a door and you can wheel the bathchair in. Well, once I had the tub filled up, I realized the door was leaking....so silly me... i thought if I just pull the door handle and push it shut tight, the problem would be fixed. I didnt realize how forceful the water in a bathtub can be- as soon as I pulled the handle, the water shot out on me..... and our entire hallway was soon swimming. Nobody got hurt and most people seemed to just get a good laugh out of this....but I still feel like I should have seen this coming. well, actually I know I should have. I just didnt think it through. Sooooo....did anyone else ever do something incredibly stupid....? Btw, I ended up spending my break shopping for dry clothes, cause I got soaked down to my panties....lesson learned =)

I also flooded a patients room, but not quite the same way. It was actually a team effort between me and another student during our very first clinical. We were emptying and changing a colostomy bag (for the first time).

We made two mistakes

  1. when we took off the bag, we didn't cover the stoma
  2. We flushed (I don't even remember why on earth) the full colostomy down the patients toilet.

The patient was laughing as poo rolled down his stomach, and the room did flood until there was an inch of, well, sewage water on the floor.

I have horrible flashbacks to this day, and probably the rest of my life:uhoh21:

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I forgot to mention- the patient took it very well. She said "Can't you just blame it on me? Tell them I ate too much watermelon and I peed all over" =)

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Once I stabbed Chicken Kiev I purchased in hospital cafeteria with a fork. The stuff had butter filled center which was heated in mirco wave and had a tendency to explode. It squirted all over me, I mean I was head to toe butter. You might ask "how is that stupid". Well everyone was aware that could happen and I had been warned repeatedly. I did it one other time but it missed me. I bought the meal many times and usually I approached it cautiously. This time I was in a hurry with a lot on my mind and stabbed it right in center. Lucky like many here I always kept a complete change of cloths in my locker, only God knows how many times I used it. One other thing, it was HOT but not hot enough to leave blisters.

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