feel like an idiot

homecarelpn · Aug 16, 2011

Mistakes happen. Learn from your mistakes! Just slow down MENTALLY and think about EVERYTHING you do before you do ANYTHING. Just stop and think, just for a second. Its fast pace but it wont take but just a second to STOP, SHUT YOUR EYES, THINK ABOUT IT WHILE TAKING A DEEP BREATH, then continue on.

HAhahha. I just reread this and I sound like a Goof BUT hey, It works for me!

: )

Simply Complicated · Aug 16, 2011

I've been a nurse for 6 years and still drop pills sometimes. Don't beat yourself up over it. Mistakes do happen. It's good that you notified them of your mistake. Countless people do not go back to correct their problems.

Like the previous poster said, just try to slow down mentally. Just work on finding organizational skills that will work for you. I was always big on making lists when I was on M/S. If it was something I could do later, so that I could get the more important things done first, I always wrote it down, so I wouldn't forget. Then made sure my checklist was done before I left for the day.

merlee · Aug 16, 2011

You've never dropped a piece of something, say an M&M, on the floor and then picked it up and ate it anyway??? Kids do it all the time! Yeah, not the most sanitary thing to do, but not worth worrying about.

The harder issue is the unwitnessed waste. We've all been in situations like this, and you will probably be writing an incident report about this. Also, I hope you learned about popping those pills into cups.....!

leslie :-D · Aug 16, 2011

You've never dropped a piece of something, say an M&M, on the floor and then picked it up and ate it anyway??? Kids do it all the time! Yeah, not the most sanitary thing to do, but not worth worrying about.
The harder issue is the unwitnessed waste. We've all been in situations like this, and you will probably be writing an incident report about this. Also, I hope you learned about popping those pills into cups.....!

normally i wouldn't worry about dropping a pill on the floor...at home.

in the hospital, i do worry since i believe it's filled with all types of bacteria.

but yes, definitely, pop pills into med cups.

if you kept on accidentally dropping pills, your mgr won't continue to be so nice.

leslie

OCNRN63, RN · Aug 16, 2011

"Five seconds rule" applies to any pills dropped on the floor.

littleneoRN · Aug 16, 2011

"Five seconds rule" applies to any pills dropped on the floor.

:eek:

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

It's sometimes hard to believe the things that upset new grads; may this be the worst you ever do; but do get the handling of narcs correct, not doing it right could be your downfall;

If you were in a place where there were no extras, you would need to wipe the pill off and give it and be done with it and the pt need not even know, necessarily, and he'd be grateful and he'd not care about any dirt that didn't even get on it; different if a pill fell into urine, blood, stool, some other mess, of course, but just onto dry ground?

Hey, good luck to you and it's nice that you're conscientious but don't overdo it.

mom4josh · Aug 16, 2011

"Five seconds rule" applies to any pills dropped on the floor.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? :eek:

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

I don't do the "5 second rule" for various reasons. I understand that the floor might APPEAR clean and dry, but consider this: surgeons and residents round after they are in the OR. Almost NONE of them wear shoe covers. They don't usually change back into street clothes before they round. We do surgery on pts with some pretty dirty blood. If we are doing any kind of bone reaming (like reaming the femur for a Gamma Nail), it gets bloody. Bits of bone and marrow tend to meet the ground where the surgeons, residents and staff are standing. (This is exactly why the staff are expected to keep their OR shoes in the OR locker room, and not wear them home.)

That being said, the surgeons and residents WALK into your pts room to round, yes? All that gunk is in the tread of their shoes. Ewww, right? I think you did the right thing by getting another pill, but now you know that you should have wasted it with a witness. You won't make that mistake again!

I feel (and correct me if I am wrong) that you were rushing to get the pt a new pill because a. you felt like an idiot and b. you wanted to correct the problem as quickly as possible without the pt having to wait too long. I get this. We were taught at an early age to correct our mistakes quickly. The 'hurry up' mode that your brain immediately went into overshadowed your 'hang on a minute, let me take my time and make sure I am thinking this through' mode. I promise, this gets better!

Sweetheart, we have ALL done really dumb stuff when we first started out. On my first week by myself as a med/surg nurse, I gave a Benadryl PO to a woman with an NG tube. Dumb, huh? She was taking sips, and it didn't occur to me that she wouldn't be able to swallow this little pill. I was SO embarrassed and felt like a total idiot-especially because she kept calling me one! Thankfully, my charge nurse was a wonderfully caring, patient, and experienced nurse that mentored all of the new staff. She came into the room after I pushed the pts call bell and I told her what I had done. She calmly told the pt that I wasn't an idiot, and that we would crush all of her meds in the future. I still felt like Nurse Gump.

Don't worry about your meeting with the NM. She will likely just give you the low-down on the policy and make sure that you understand it. It is her job to make sure that you 'get it'. At this point, I have no doubt that you do!

OCNRN63, RN · Aug 16, 2011

I really can't believe that people took my "five seconds" post seriously. I guess I should have put a sarcasm flag on it to be safe.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

I'm pretty sure she was kidding.