Almost made med error, how to manage stress at clinical as SRNA

[socalRN91]

I'm a first year SRNA in my second clinical rotation. Today was kind of busy, 3 MAC cases before 11 am. My 4th case was a general with an LMA. I knew we weren't going to tube the patient, but I still drew up Roc for the case. During induction, I pushed my propofol and attached roc to the stopcock to give after ventilating. The MDA saw that I attached Roc to the stopcock and stopped me thankfully, but I still felt really dumb. She wasn't mean just stern about it. Anyways, I know its not the end of the world but I just couldn't believe that I was being so absentminded every step of the way. I think the stress is getting to me. Is there any advice anyone has for calming nerves in clinical/school in general? I don't want to beat myself up about it, but I want to be able to learn and improve. Thanks!

[loveanesthesia]

It’s a high stress time beginning clinical and you’re working on developing a routine. Your routine got you off track. Need to add a step of mentally assessing if muscle relaxant will be used before you connect the drug.

Don’t give this more significance than it deserves. You’ve acknowledged you made an error. Think about what you should do to assure that you are administering the drugs you should be. I go into a mental ‘induction zone’ when the patient enters the OR and systematically go through my routine. I have a checklist in my head. Even in an emergency I go through the mental checklist. It’s a learning experience and the reason you have a preceptor to oversee what you are doing. This can be a good learning experience and prevent potentially more serious errors in the future if you grow from it. DON’T DWELL ON THIS!

[socalRN91]

Thanks @loveanesthesia , you are so right in saying that my routine got me off track. I definitely need to take a step back and reassess the situation to determine if what I am about to do makes sense.

I won't dwell, but I will try use this experience to help me become a better future CRNA like you said! Thanks again for your advice and uplifting words ?