What is the dumbest thing a student/newbie ever said or did??
I ask because I'm starting nursing school in May and want to know what NOT to do!
I thought it could be entertaining as well if not for those of us that are saying "I don't get it...why was that dumb??" than for you more experienced nurses to get a chuckle!
Also if there is anything that a student did that isn't exactly dumb just a BIG no-no please please share!
Here's one a new grad did to me several weeks ago. Admit who had OD'd on narcotics, sustained release. He received narcan x1 in ER. Gets to the floor, new grad nurse is taking care of him. After a while she comes to me, waits for me to finish my totally casual conversation with another coworker, and then says "Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question for you. My guy in room XXXX is only breathing about 4 times a minute, I can't get an O2 sat on him, and he's not waking up. What should I do?" Hello, that is what that prn Narcan order is for, and by the way, let's get a little O2 on him and get some help right now!
See, I don't think that's "dumb," that's common sense! There's a BSN v. ADN (critical thinking v. skills) thread running elsewhere. Even this goes far beyond those two distinctions. This is critical thinking AND skills... AND common sense! If someone is not breathing (regardless of the cause), do SOMETHING!
Those are just two of I'm sure hundreds of small and big mistakes that I have made and continue to make. Thing is; I haven't made them twice. Whenever I listen to BS, I always make sure any excess tissue, etc is out of the way; and whenever someone doesn't respond as expected to O2, I always make sure the tubing is connected!
I think that's the big thing that sets a part a "skilled" nurse from one who is just average. I'm brand-spanking new, and there are plenty of things I'm still learning. Some are pretty simple and bring no harm to the patient if left undone. However, once they're brought to my attention, I don't do them (or do do them) the next time.
I was being reprimanded about a year ago for running blood into a patient through a 22 gauge angiocath. I accepted what the manager was telling me, even though I knew that it is acceptable to do so. She was (is) the manager, and therefore, I showed her respect.
Afterwards, I was online looking for validation either way, and a newbie RN was sitting beside me. I told her what I was looking for. We talked for a few minutes about the fact that infants get blood, and they are certainly not receiving it through an 18g or smaller iv. Her response to me?
"But do babies get adult blood?"
:yeah:
I could hardly contain my laughter. It was so funny!! I was picturing the blood drives where all the infants are lined up side by side, donating infant blood.
It still amazes me that a woman with five children refuses to give a elderly pt a total lift shower bc "she don't know how". She finds three + students to help her. Totaling four to five people to give one bath.
I'm a SR in nursing school, about to graduate in May. I can't really think of any stupid questions, but I can think of mistakes that I've seen some students make. The biggest one is being unprepared. If you are getting your patients information the day before you have clinical, look up what's going on with them. If you don't know something, find it out. Ask, use a Tabors, something.
The dumbest thing that all but 2 students did? Not doing the care plan homework the night before. Me and another student did ours. We were the last ones checked, and that explained why the teacher was walking down the hall with smoke coming out of her ears.
one of the students in my class had a patient wih a stage 4 decub that they were packing. the patient also apparently had an active gi bleed. one day she came running out of the room yelling "omg! the patient is oozing everywhere!" so we all went in there with the instructor, and she lifts up the covers and says "see? her decub is so bad the necrotic tissue is coming out her orifice"
it was diarrhea.
i dont think she will live that one down for a while.
LOL...that is too funny!
:chuckle
in my med-surg clinical I had to measure a wound.. not to my surprise the sub-acute facility i was at didn't have any cotton swabs left...so as a joke, my instructor (which she was TOTALLY poker faced about) told me to use my finger. not wanting to go against my instructor...i did so. and was completely traumatized.
I was being reprimanded about a year ago for running blood into a patient through a 22 gauge angiocath. I accepted what the manager was telling me, even though I knew that it is acceptable to do so. She was (is) the manager, and therefore, I showed her respect.
Afterwards, I was online looking for validation either way, and a newbie RN was sitting beside me. I told her what I was looking for. We talked for a few minutes about the fact that infants get blood, and they are certainly not receiving it through an 18g or smaller iv. Her response to me?
"But do babies get adult blood?"
:yeah:
I could hardly contain my laughter. It was so funny!! I was picturing the blood drives where all the infants are lined up side by side, donating infant blood.
I had a senior student once remark in an ICU that she thought the hospital should have a gym within the unit so that the nursing staff could be paid to stretch and "warm up" as the first tasks of a shift. We all looked at her like she had 14 heads. When we found a voice we said, they do.....it's called turning, repositioning your patient, doing ROM and getting them OOB! What are they teaching these kids???
I was working with a 3rd year student on nights in the UK many many years ago on Nightingale Ward ( a ward with 12 beds on either side). We had a patient who had uncontrolled epilepsy and was a frequent flyer-we discussed what to do when a pt has a 'fit' and the fact that a lot of patients get an 'aurora' before they have an episode. A few hours later our patient suffered a 'fit' which went on for a considerable amount of time. Afterwards we discussed what she had seen and how she felt he had been managed, and I asked her if there was anything I could help her with to which she replied, " I was most dissapointed not to see his 'aurora' !!" My poor student thought the patient glowed when he fitted.
We all laughed that hard we had to put the lights on the floor on early and pretent it was after 6am, because we woke all the patients up!!!
I had an order to instill about 120cc into the bladder via a foley and discontinue the foley allowing the patient to urinate spontaneously, collect and calculate subsequent urines, to retrain the bladder. I went in as a newbie just off orientation, wanting to be independent, ready to be a hero and instilled the sterile H20 via the resistant balloon port on the foley(not a 3-way foley). The worst part is that the surgeon:uhoh3: walked in and saw me doing it.:uhoh21: I had to explain how and why that happened. Luckily, the educator came and took a 60cc syringe withdrew all the fluids and discontinued the foley. Patient urinated without any discomfort thereafter. Urinary specialist was called. Charge nurse took over the care of the patient for the day. I could not get over that hump and the surgeon reported to the Nurse manager, asking that I not take his patients. I felt terribly humiliated. The bad thing is other experienced nurses have messed up worse in the past, they tried to encourage me but the record lingered.
If the patient doesn't introduce you to the visitors, and you want to know if this is a family member, say something like "My name is xxx, and you are?
Or you may say my name is .... is this your family member? to the patient.
I have just completed 3 years at Uni and finally received my registration so my "mistakes" are still painfully fresh......where do I start?
I now understand that some patients are embarrassed to talk to a big boofy bloke about their condition so when answering a call-bell I will not allow myself get sent on wild goose chases, no geese in our hospital. (I was covering for a friend while she was on break)
Midwives get cranky when you tell pt's/new parents that the laundry tub makes a great baby-bath! Please use correct teaching when "educating" Pt's.
Don't tell the English Pt that you will not care for them if they mention the (Rugby) World Cup....in front of their specialist!
*Note to Self: Don't make a patient laugh immediatly after an abdominoplasty surgery.........ever again!
than for you more experienced nurses to get a chuckle!
:yeah:
FireStarterRN, BSN, RN
3,824 Posts
OMG! That sounds disasterous. Did the patient survive?