didn't call doc for something significant

[youngnewnurse]

I am a new nurse, I got my nursing license in February and have been working nights on a medsurg/tele unit. Last night I had a young patient who was admitted for dizziness. She had been having the same complaints all night of dizziness and then around 5 am she called me in to say she had been having migraines. She did have a history of migraines and was taking meds for them at home.

When i walked out of the room I was told the monitor techs had called because she had a run of v-tach....while I was talking with her. By the time I got the tele strips it had been an hour and I had saw that her v-tach run had lasted about 15 seconds which to me seemed pretty significant.

It had been an hour since and there and not been anything like it before or after. I was undecided on whether to call the doc. I had a gut feeling that I should but never did. I passed it on in report at 7 am. The am nurse called the doc he gave orders for a mg and phos levels (the k was normal that morning), and said he would be in to see her a little while later.

This is the biggest mistake I have made as a nurse and I feel as thought it is pretty obvious what I should have done. I'm just mad at my self, I guess. I don't know what I'm expecting from this thread because I know I should have called. But I just need to get it out there.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

Sometimes it depends on the docs as well.

Some docs want you to call for anything and everything while some are notorious for being absolute grouches even when called for critical lab results.

Good nurses anticipate the doctors moves (get stat. EKG, blood work, transfer to ICU etc.), plans ahead and has pertinent information on hand (current labs results, vital signs trend etc.) before making the call.

I agree with the idea of bouncing your concerns off your colleagues - chances are they've been in your shoes before.

As others have pointed out - you learned from this episode.

Now give yourself 10 lashes with a wet noodle and go back to work! :)

cheers,

[MomRN0913]

Calling doc at night is a tricky call. When in doubt call. They may or may not get mad, but you can say you did the right thing.

Well, now you know why the patient is dizzy.