in honor of july 1, and the new group of fresh-from-medical-school doctors, i was wondering what is the dumbest thing you've ever seen an intern do? after 26 batches of new interns, i've seen quite a few really dumb moves, as i'm sure some of you have, too!
for instance, there were the two brand new interns who took the patient off for a ct in the middle of the night. the transporters were busy, and i was the only rn on the unit. the ct must have been absolutely fascinating -- when the three of them came back, patient on the guerney, the interns were in the midst of a spirited discussion of the results and potential implications of the ct. they were so busy discussing how to treat the ct that they failed to notice that the patient was no longer breathing! the resulting code did manage to impart upon them the necessity of monitoring the basics!
another time, a brand new intern was doing what must have been one of his first few full assessments on a female patient. he came flying out of the room, waving the bedpan over his head and shouting "she's gotta pee! she's gotta pee!" as i was quite busy, i just snapped "so give her the bedpan." "where is it?" was the incredible response. "it's in your left hand," i pointed out helpfully. "oh," he said. "where does it go?" :rotfl:
i can top those stories, but i'd rather hear yours!
the resulting code did manage to impart upon them the necessity of monitoring the basics!