Dumbest thing a student/newbie ever said/did?

Nurses General Nursing

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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!:banghead:

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??" :confused: 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!

Thx!

Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.
Ha ha, just the other day I went to change 2 pressure bags for both a CVP monitor and a A-line. For some unknown reason, on the second bag change I unspiked the bag BEFORE letting the pressure out of the pressure bag!!! LOL, it was hilarious as the fluid propelled at great force all over me and behind me, I was soaked! The patient and I had a good laugh over that...:chuckle:lol2:

Well, if you're going to shower yourself, it's definitely better to use saline rather than dextrose!! (Sticky, sticky, sticky!!)

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.

had a classmate who, in an atempt to be a caring nurse, gave her patient a backrub with the lotion on the bedside---

nitropaste....:clown:

after the fluids and meds, he was fine. she dropped out that week, was delivering pizza last i heard!

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

I had to do a lot of mixing. We had a machine that you hooked to the bag of fluids, and it could remove fluid from the bag, or add to it. It was operated by a pedal, so it was like a pedal controled syringe. Kinda cool. While, I was mixing away one day, and I clicked to instill 500ml of solution in the bag, instead of withdraw. And the machine worked very quickly. So I quickly added 500cc of air to a full 1000cc bag of NS. Exploded like a bag, everybody runs in to see me soaking wet.

Years ago, there was an IV pump that was literally a pump, not a controller. It had no sensors to detect pressure, so if you clamped off the IV line below the pump, it didn't stop pumping. :uhoh3:

IV tubing under pressure can stretch to several times its normal diameter before it explodes. :lol2:

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.
had a classmate who, in an atempt to be a caring nurse, gave her patient a backrub with the lotion on the bedside---

nitropaste....:clown:

after the fluids and meds, he was fine. she dropped out that week, was delivering pizza last i heard!

i worked with an lpn in ltc who could not figure out why she got a pretty bad headache the same time every day.

then i saw her rubbing some cream into her hands. when she'd apply the nitropaste, she'd use that little dollop that was left hanging out of the end of the tube- as hand cream.

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Specializes in LTC.

At the hospital where I did clinicals, there was a story of a student (before my time) who was asked by her pt's MD how his electrolytes were. She went to the pt's room, looked around, saw his Gomco machine in action, went back to the MD ( who has a great sense of humor),and stated " They're flashing off and on". True story.

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Specializes in NICU.
Also, don't be lazyDon't stick yourself with needles and don't put air into a bottle of Mucomyst so it blows back into your face. :bugeyes:

And unless you want a loaded rubber top to shoot across the room, don't add air to the morphine tubex either :rolleyes:.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
okay, let me tell a couple on myself, but from when i was a new pharmacy tech, not nurse, but still very funny.

i had to do a lot of mixing. we had a machine that you hooked to the bag of fluids, and it could remove fluid from the bag, or add to it. it was operated by a pedal, so it was like a pedal controled syringe. kinda cool. while, i was mixing away one day, and i clicked to instill 500ml of solution in the bag, instead of withdraw. and the machine worked very quickly. so i quickly added 500cc of air to a full 1000cc bag of ns. exploded like a bag, everybody runs in to see me soaking wet.

i also was cleaning out med draws on patients that had went home. didn't know what nitropaste was at the time, but a nurse had left an empty packet in the drawer, that had oozed out. got all over my hands before i saw it. i was my hands, and went on about my busisness. i was working out a lot at the time, and my normal bp was like 100/50-60 any, so within a few minutes i was flat on the floor. nurse came ot pull meds to find me unconscience with a bp of 75/30. got me some ns real quick in the er ;)

these had me laughing! i've done both of those things! added too much sterile water to a vial of penicillin -- we mixed our own piggybacks. the vial exploded in my face. since i'm allergic to pcn, my manager was very shortly wheeling me to the er in some visitor's wheelchair while i was gasping for breath! (ok, it's funny now. not so much at the time, especially to my manager!) i wasn't a newbie then -- had over 10 years of experience!

and i dropped a glass bottle of nitroglycerin on the floor -- the nitro drip. of course it shattered, and as i apologized to the patient and the visitors, i was picking up the glass shards so no one would get injured. of course i had nitroglycerin all over my hands, and when i woke up, was quite embarrassed. the patient thought it was a riot, once it was clear that i was going to be ok! oh yes -- and i'd been in the icu for a dozen years then!

by the way -- don't ever play a practical joke on someone if it involves substituting nitropaste for hand lotion. not funny! the victim of the joke hit her head on the way down . . . .

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One of our new nurses in the PICU had a patient with a arterial line. The line got disconnected and instead of try to stop the flow of blood, she went looking for the nurse that had the patient to see what she should do about it! DUH!!!!

I also have a good one about a resident. We were conscious sedating a child for a procedure and the oxygen requirement kept getting higher and higher, we could not keep her sats up and we were getting ready to intubate her when we realized the resident was stepping on the oxygen tubing and cutting off her air supply!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Psych, Tele, ICU.

I would call it more scary than dumb...A recent RN grad on our Telemetry floor was walking down the hall at med pass (around 9:30 pm) and I saw she had a syringe, with a needle, filled with a creamy orange liquid in it. I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "going to give my patient Dilantin push". I told her it was a supspension and needed to be given po. Another time, same nurse, gave an entire multi dose bottle of Trandate IVP because her math was wrong. My instructors always said if your answer is more than 3 of anything, redo your calculations. That nurse later moved on to a desk job.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, MS, Charge.

One of the stupidest things that I have had many students say is "I don't do ___(shower, accu check, tolieting, linens, etc) anymore, that's the aide's job, I'm a nursing student."

Let me tell you honey, I work in a small facilty where, as an RN I wipe butts with the best of em' and aides are a luxury who ASSIST me (when you can find them :lol2:). I don't ever EXPECT my aides to do anything, and I darn well know I still have to follow up and make sure it's all done throughout the day.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Administration (briefly).

Pt. was ordered mucomyst, and the student was told to mix it with coca cola because of it's putrid taste.

She did it, and then administered the mixture IV.

Now, where in nursing school do we learn NOT to administer coca cola IV???

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
Pt. was ordered mucomyst, and the student was told to mix it with coca cola because of it's putrid taste.

She did it, and then administered the mixture IV.

Now, where in nursing school do we learn NOT to administer coca cola IV???

Now you must tell me if that patient survived! :(And if the student was kept in the program! :uhoh21:

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