Hey everyone. It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Not sure if you recall but I had a really rough time during my first two years of nursing (see previous posts)
Not only that, but I was rude and ignorant towards a lot of you on this forum (I sincerely apologize) (see my post about quitting nursing) because someone suggested that I seek professional help.
The truth was, I was suffering from burn out. From my first years of nursing? YES. I wanted so bad to please my bosses that I stayed after when I was too exhausted. I picked up days that I needed to rest on. I stayed overnight because no one would do it. And as a result, I had quickly ran out of gas. And when you're exhausted, you're prone to make mistakes. Nursing is a marathon not a race. And as you all know, those good deeds are not recalled during a med error.
Also, I think as nurses, we focus on everything we did wrong and not the good things we do. Every time I made a mistake, I would run to this forum and post it. It seemed like all I did was make mistakes when honestly I did a lot of good too but I never focused on it. Plus I learned from a lot of my mistakes too.
The truth is, I will make another med error in the future. I will make a bad call. I will go home crying and wishing I had made a better decision. But also one day I will drive home beaming from making a patient's day. I will be told that I'm a great nurse. I will catch a mistake before it was made. I will be the one that a patient feels comfortable talking to.
Nurses, we are human. We take so much time to take care of others meaning we are not taking care of ourselves. I spoke to someone professional and took the time to heal myself and I can honestly say I'm better than ever. One of my supervisors pulled me aside and told me how happy they are to have me at this new job.
