Nursing student mistake

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I would like some feedback. I am in clinical and I did a procedure that I thought i was allowed but it ended up that I wasn't. I am a first year student studying to be an lpn in Canada and I was wondering would it effect my permanent nursing record in the future or just on my student file. I don't know how it works for nursing in the real world when they make mistaks and if any one whom as a student made a mistake. I didn't hurt the patient or anything just was helping them get dressed before being discharged and undid the cord for the Iv so they could put their shirt on and get it right back asap. I wanted some feedback and advice on this topic and what your experiences have been. I'm pretty upset over this situation and I know we all make mistakes just worried about my record as a future nurse. Thanks for everything.

Help student nurse need some advice.

It was a one time mistake. You know what you did wrong. Take some remedial action on your own part and move on. The patient was not harmed. Your educators may want to question you on your learned experience but more than that would be derogatory. Please be more careful and move on.

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Don't ya love it when Americans wade in and tell us how they know what LPNs can and can not do!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I, personally, think that many forget here that this is the LARGEST Nursing Community and we have nurses here from all over the world. I think we all forget to say what country we are posting from, if different from the US, or remember to ask the poster where are they....as in country. (AN is based in the US) All forums show up on the What's new, Daily linked/liked areas and many don't look/see what forum they are in or can't see as trhey are on their phones.

I usually pick up on certain speech patterns for Ireland, England, and Australia .....there are common phrases or use of certain words that tip me off Like the "ward" or "Brilliant".

While some of practice is very similar....some of it is vastly different. I think first and foremost we need to be respectful of each other and remember that each of us have different Practice acts that govern our practice.

I think we need to remember that in the US.....the LPN/LVN practice has become extremely limited in all of the US States (for various reasons) and in the US every state has it's own Nurse Practice Act and then that practice is governed by individual facilities. Very confusing......The down side of non-centralized medicine.

In the US we need to remember that there are other posters that are not from our country or work in the same facility that we work.

We "can agree to disagree without being disagreeable". President Gerald Ford.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Rehab.

Just wanted to give you some support and good luck at your meeting. I am an RN in America and I made the same mistake in clinical when I was in nursing school. I was helping my patient to take a shower and didn't think it was a big deal to pause the IV for a few minutes while the pt showered. What I didn't realize was that the line would clot off because it hadn't been flushed with saline, and the IV needed to be pulled after that. Not a big deal in the long run since the pt was due to be discharged home, but it had potential to be serious. It's a learning experience and you should learn from it and be prepared to explain to your clinical instructors how something like this won't happen again.

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Forgive me, but I'm not American. And what does it matter? This is a forum for nurses. My first sentences were part in part questioning. The laws and policies that apply where I am at may not be the same in Canada but I was simply wondering if what I had stated might be the reason for why the nurse/instructor was so upset? I just don't understand why they would be this severely upset with the OP enough to make her redo clinicals? If as an LPN she's allowed to touch IV's and whatnot then what was the problem with her doing what she did? Did I maybe miss a comment somewhere where the situation was further explained?

Thanks.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

yes this is a site for nurses however LPN in one country will probably have a different scope to another country never mind one province/state to another. I think because this post is in the Canadian forum members who are not Canadian should be aware that things will be different and to discuss these differences appropriately instead of confusing it with their state/country

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.
Forgive me, but I'm not American. And what does it matter? This is a forum for nurses. My first sentences were part in part questioning. The laws and policies that apply where I am at may not be the same in Canada but I was simply wondering if what I had stated might be the reason for why the nurse/instructor was so upset? I just don't understand why they would be this severely upset with the OP enough to make her redo clinicals? If as an LPN she's allowed to touch IV's and whatnot then what was the problem with her doing what she did? Did I maybe miss a comment somewhere where the situation was further explained?Thanks.
The reason she was in trouble is that she is a student in a clinical setting and she did something that put the patient at risk.She also did it without supervision.
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In Ontario Registered Practical Nurses can insert IV's if certified by the facility and if their policies permit it. They may not be taught to do this in school but are taught how to monitor and disconnect the IV. Each school and facilities have policies stating what students can and cannot due but in this case a skill was not taught yet so the client's safety was placed at risk. Every school deals with these incidents differently and it will also depend if an incident report was filed at the facility because if that occured than the instructor has to follow up with the school. Student nurses are expected to be accountable and not take any risks without having sufficient knowledge, skills and competency so if your fortunate remedial plans and reflective journals may be assigned to you to do instead of failing clinical. I have seen nursing students fail because of medication errors or errors with injections so it literally comes down to the discretion of your school because the school has to be accountable and protect its reputation or else facilities will not take their students.

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