DUHHHHH!!

[burger914]

Well, I was in my Labor and Delivery rotation yesterday and made myself look like a real rookie!! I had a 3 day old infant with a very elevated bilirubin and poor latching and sucking. I started taking his vitals, Heartrate and Resp. normal, so I moved on to temp. I couldn't find his thermometer ( We use glass at this facility )so I got a new one right out of the packages. I shook it down and proceeded. Well I got a reading of 101!! I panicked got the nurse, she called his doctor. He was panicked, but sceptical. We went in the room all together. I took the thermometer out and look at it. It still read 101...weird. I shook it down ...still 101. The thermometer, even though brand new, was faulty! I looked like a fool. Never assume that equipment is working properly. Still, if I had paid closer attention after I shook it down the first time and not assumed, I got have saved myself some Grace!! I hope I am not the only one who ever did something this stupid!

[OBNURSEHEATHER]

Don't beat yourself up, burger! We've all done these types of things, and any nurse who says they haven't is LYING! The important thing is that you learned something from it! As a new nurse in post partum, I had taken a baby from a room to take to the nursery for some reason I don't recall. As I was walking to the nursery, I passed a room in which a new patient with legs that were still very numb was out of bed against my request to call for assistance with trips to the bathroom. She was having a difficult time, and as I was concerned for her saftey, I had pulled the baby into her room with me to assist her to the bathroom (her baby was not in the room, so I wasn't concerned with confusing the 2 babies or anything) I get her to the toilet safely and am in the process of telling her not to get up until I return from delivering this baby to the nursery when I hear all this yelling in the hall. I exit the room to find my supervisor, fellow nurses, and security responding to a Code Adam (missing baby)! Seems the pediatrician on rounds wanted the first baby in the nursery for an exam, so someone went to retrieve the baby from the room, and of course the baby was nowhere to be found! Once everyone's adrenaline rush had subsided, it proved to be a "new nurse blooper" everyone got a giggle out of!

HEATHER

[hollykate]

burger,

there is a post- and I can not find it now, but I think it was called "new grad stupids". It's funny, and pretty long- once you read through it, you will see that you are indeed one of many! We all make mistakes, It takes courage to admit the mistakes, and flexibility to laugh at the mistake (when it is indeed a laughable mistake). You are definitely not the only one. Welcome to the club.