Flopped at clinical now afraid I won't be invited for a position

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So I am quite nervous!

i am 7 weeks away from graduating! I am in my final rotation and made my first nursing mistake. I was asked to take the patients pulses! I obviously need to go back and practice because I wasn't thinking and said I felt a 2+ when I really felt a threats pulse maybe a 1+ at most..... I haven't done the skill in a while( sad but true) , I was under a lot of pressure, and it was my fault for not speaking up! I will admit that the nurse said it's either 2 or 3, so I second guessed my gut feeling! I knew this patient was an amputee and just didn't even click in my mind that I was either not checking the right pulse or that I am not doing or scaling what I felt right! My mind was all over the place, I will admit!

Anyway, no one checked me!

the procedure went fine! The patient was fine! But they ended up having to find the pulses with a Doppler! And the nurse said the PT was absent!

So I heard and told the nurse that's what I thought I felt and how sorry I was and how I would report to my instructor if I needed to!

She she said it was fine and just taught be what to look for! I asked her if I could follow her Wednesday just because she was so open to helping, she said yes! The doctor said that everything was fine and mentioned nothing to me, even welcomed me back! I apologized to the new nurse I was working with! I couldn't to her preceptor because she was off the unit!

Granted this isn't the unit I am on the floor for, I just floated for the experience, I'm worried someone will tell my preceptor! I have made a great rapport with the staff I've been working with! I don't want them to think less of me or to not offer me a position because I'm an idiot that forgot how to do the most basic of skills!

Can this ruin my chances? :/

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First off relax!!

Now you know what to look for And you won't make that mistake again.

Don't lie in nursing. Just go to your skills lab and practice. Even practice on your friends and complete a full Head to toe assement on them.

Speak to all the nurses and let them know your there to learn and if they have an amputee patient to let you know. So that you can complete an assement on them.

Stop worrying you're almost done! And congrats in advance.

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Thank you so much for the kind words! I needed that! I smiled and said my goodbyes to the staff, but I panicked like no other when I got to the car! You're right!! I should have just said what I felt! And I will never just say what the nurse implies again because I was well capable of feeling what I felt! I will continue to practice! And next week I will try not to show up defeated, but enthusiastic to learn more!

It's just hard to feel like I'll be a good nurse! Especially with something like this happening so late :/ now I feel like I'm never going to find a job or even be a decent help!

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Specializes in Emergency.

I think thats hardly a "nursing mistake". You're a student, and the staff nurses know the students don't know much, so I think it's not that big of a deal. I'm a new grad but I can't imagine this would ruin your chances, especially if the nurse isnt making a big deal out of it. I doubt they will even remember.

Remember, You're there to learn!

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You're seriously overthinking it. Relax. You're doing fine.

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