Fears....mistakes/errors...

GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN · Jan 19, 2006

I had a terrible fear of calling the docs. I was afraid of getting yelled at. I just had to make myself do it. Now I find ways to make it humerous. For example... We have a certain doc that will rip you out and curse at you for any reason called during the night. So now when I have to call him, I have all of the other nurses and cna's gather around the desk, and I put him on speaker phone! That way we all get to laugh about what an a$$ he is when I hang up (more like after he hangs up on me). I know, not very professional, but administration is aware and doesn't care. So this is my way of dealing with him.

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Jan 19, 2006

I had a terrible fear of calling the docs. I was afraid of getting yelled at. I just had to make myself do it. Now I find ways to make it humerous. For example... We have a certain doc that will rip you out and curse at you for any reason called during the night. So now when I have to call him, I have all of the other nurses and cna's gather around the desk, and I put him on speaker phone! That way we all get to laugh about what an a$$ he is when I hang up (more like after he hangs up on me). I know, not very professional, but administration is aware and doesn't care. So this is my way of dealing with him.

Hey, that is a good idea! :) Really, if he is going to act like a jerk, you might as well warn others about him. :) One of my biggest fears was actually giving blood transfusions. Before I even hung blood I would get nervous thinking about what would happen if the pt. had a bad reaction to it. Now when I give transfusions, I just take my time evaluating the pt often -so I know I''m spending a lot of time making sure everything is ok with vitals, lung sounds, and monitoring for any other abnormal occurrence that may occur. So I feel a lot better about giving transfusions because I feel I'm safe in my actions since I'm very thorough and cautious.

-Christine

grinnurse, RN · Jan 20, 2006

For me it was blood, serious med errors, assertiveness, and talking/calling the doctors!!

With the blood, I just take my sweet little time, double check everything with another nurse at the bedside, and monitor frequently the whole time instead of delegating to anyone!!

I did make a med-error, but it was not with serious medications, but now I check and triple check and leave the drugs in the packs and double verify the orders for the patients, this takes more time but it's the safest!!

The assertiveness comes with time!!

The one Doc that is a jerk, I let the charge nurse call if he's not in the hospital, if I have to ask him while he's in the hospital, I keep it short and simple. The other ones are very greatful for the care the pt recieves and the more you talk to them in the hospital and develop some kind of rapport with the easier it is to call them in an emergency!!

Good luck!!