Nursing School Bloopers

My instructor let me borrow her personal Carpuject for my very first IV push last year in clinicals. I checked the "7 rights", gave the med over the correct period of time...everything went off without a hitch. I was so relieved that it was over that I quickly dropped the empty cartridge--still locked in my instructor's Carpuject--into the sharps container. I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing the instant I did it because I knew what I had done. She took it quite well, but I was so embarrassed!

This one happened to my friend last year:

After reading the patient's chart inside and out in preparation for clinical, my friend felt pretty confident when she walked into the lady's room to do her assessment and give her a bed bath. Pretty simple tasks, right? She had finished bathing the lady (breast area included), but when she pulled back the covers to do pericare she discovered that the lady had male genitalia! She tried not to let her shock show on her face, but the patient noticed her reaction and said, "I guess they didn't put in my chart that I'm in the process of becoming a woman." My friend was felt so bad for letting her surprise show through, but no--it was not listed anywhere in the patient's chart that she was a transsexual; she was simply listed as a female throughout the whole thing. Oops!

Often happens in elderly women. After cleansing with the Betadine, slide your finger gently up the top lining , into the vagina, you'll feel a little ridge. Using the other hand, slide the top of the tube along your "inside" finger, and gently direct the tube into the urethra.

When I'd not been a nurse all that long, and didn't know how to find "missing" urethras, I asked another nurse for help since I couldn't get the Foley in. He quickly and expertly got it in, but in those days the cath wasn't already connected to the bag, he was holding it in his hand folded over to keep it clean, so the urine shot out directly at me (standing there holding her hands down). Went right up my front, from naval to nose. These days I duck faster!

surprise, surprise, surprise!!!

When I was on clinical, I had to give meds via G-tube for the first time. My instructor was right next to me, watching what I did. Wouldn't you know it- the tube was clogged. She told me to try forcing the liquid in by pushing as hard as I could on the syringe plunger while holding the #2 port. Well, I didn't know what she meant by #2 port but assumed she meant where the syrigne was attached to the tube. I pushed real hard, the OTHER port flew open and the meds/saline splatted all over the front of my instructor. I was sooooo embarrased. She was very sweet about it though.

One of the funniest bloopers I have ever witnessed happened with one of my classmates... we were up at the nursing station with the instructor, the secretary had gone to fax something and the phone rang, the instructor asked my classmate to answer it since she was closest. my instructor ans I both stopped to watch her because she kept telling the person on the other line "What? I can't hear you... what? I'm sorry, I can't understand you..." We both thought maybe it was someone calling from a cell phone with a bad connection, but the girl looked positively scared! It turns out the caller had an electronic voice box s/p throat cancer which made his voice sound very mechanical. Anyway, the way we found that out was the poor girl finally handed the phone to my instructor and said "Here... I think it's a robot!"
She never did live that one down.

Lori

Our first clinicals were in OB (not sure why, I think that would have been better at the end of the program, but I digress) and one morning I was changing a newborn's diaper in the nursery barehanded. The instructor gave me a quick but stern reminder to wear gloves and I looked at her like she was crazy. Wear gloves to change a baby's diaper? See, I had 3 kids of my own in 2.5 years so changing diapers is something I can and have done in my sleep. She had to remind me that body fluids are body fluids, whether from a 9 hour old or a 90 year old and standard precautions must be followed everywhere.

I did that once, about a year after graduation, though, and another very patient nurse did help me clean it up. Now I always get a little nervous when I hang blood, cuz of the horrific mess that was.

had a pt with a foley in that asked me to hand her the bedpan. I got the most puzzled look on my face and asked, "Why? Did your catheter come out..." As soon as I said it, I realized my mistake and she laughed too.

my freshman year of nursing i had to insert a foley into a male for the first time. i had penis phobia and would blush just saying the word. my clinical instructor had me do this particular foley for this reason. i got all my things together, went into the room and explained the procedure. when i pulled back the sheets i discovered my 70 yr old pt had a penis implant. it probably wouldn't of bothered me had he not been a double amputee with a penis longer than his stumps.

On our first day in the hospital we received orientation and then for the last hour we were sent out in pairs to go to patient's rooms and to "just introduce yourself and talk to them." (We were told later that now that the ice had been broken, the real clinical could begin.) My partner and I thought we were doing so well. We had made it to 2 rooms, and the patients were happy to have students "visiting" them. Then, we reached our 3rd room (out of 4). When we entered the room and before we could introduce ourselves, the elderly male patient stated, "I think I have a problem here." He then proceeded to throw back the covers and lift his hips while removing his boxers. He had a three-way foley attaced to irrigation, and it had been inserted through the fly of his boxers. We stuttered and stumbled and finally got out that we were students sent in to talk with him, but that we would "go and get a real nurse" with some scissors. He took it well. We were quite red in the face, and we barely got the door shut to his room before we both started laughing hysterically. It was a great pressure relief for our case of the nerves, and I had him for a patient the next morning. Which was fine because as he stated, "you've already seen it."

A fellow nursing student was inserting a foley catheter on our OB rotation. She had laid out her supplies and was opening the betadine. She was having difficulty tearing open the packet, so she gave it all she had...and squirted the entire contents all over the nursing instructor who was standing across from her.

Did you know that when expelling air from a 3 ml prefilled saline flush you should pull back the plunger before you push out the air? Otherwise, you might sqirt the ceiling with NS...it makes a distinctive "thump" when it hit ceiling tiles, too.

I needed to obtain a urine specimen from a man who was incontinent. While assisting a nurse with his dressing change, he proceeded to urinate, and she instructed me to catch his urine. He was very obese. When I looked for his penis, all I saw was a very, very large blob of tissue...no penis. His scrotum was large, and I was having trouble distinguishing it from the pendulum of his abdomen. I could find where the urine was coming from because by now there was large puddle of urine in his lap. Finally, I absorbed the puddle with a towel and not knowing what else to do (and being very embarrassed and unable to think) I turned the cup upside down over where I thought the urine was coming out and placed as much of his scrutum as I could in the cup. At this point, seeing my delima, the nurse attempted to surpress a chuckle and helped me to turn him on his side so that I could catch the urine in the cup.

Did that cure your phobia?