Is It Me???

mom4josh · Oct 17, 2007

No, it's not you.

Sounds like a new LVN we have (soon to be RN... God help us!). She worked as a Nurse Tech before so she should know the ropes by now. I told her last week that she needed to sign off her orders. She said "I don't know how, I've never done that before!" Doesn't know how to write orders, either.

This week we found out that she didn't flush a drain q4h as ordered because she told the patient she had never done one and he told her that he didn't want her to! :banghead:

Just a few of the many things she has clearly not learned yet. Praying for patience!

Dolce, RN · Oct 17, 2007

Well, when I was a brand new grad I didn't usually ask dumb questions, I just did dumb things. I guess it is better to ask a stupid questions like "How do you spike an IV bag?" (This was from a new RN) than it is to actually attempt something that you don't know how to do and really make a mess of things. Now that I have been a nurse for a few years I finally feel comfortable asking questions about things I'm not familiar with. But when I was a new grad I hardly asked any questions--probably to the detriment of my patients.

But I agree with your main premise. Sometimes it is best to just tell these new grads that even though they are now a nurse they still need to study. There is constant learning that goes on in a new grad's first year. I know I was in the books almost every day. Encourage the people who ask dumb questions to do further research on the topic when they get home. :)

pagandeva2000, LPN · Oct 17, 2007

Believe me, I know that new grads really need exposure. And, my working in a clinic limits me to knowing more as well (hence, this is why I will do med-surg per diem for more hands on knowledge). I am desperately trying to understand asking the color of blood...especially from an experienced phlebotomist.

Here is another one; experienced RN (9 years) saw an order for Novolog, takes out 70/30. Another nurse tells her this is the wrong insulin. Experienced one says "I didn't know there was a difference". Not safe... but you know...most get well in spite of us. Evidence that there IS a HIGHER power.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Oct 17, 2007

Well, when I was a brand new grad I didn't usually ask dumb questions, I just did dumb things. I guess it is better to ask a stupid questions like "How do you spike an IV bag?" (This was from a new RN) than it is to actually attempt something that you don't know how to do and really make a mess of things. Now that I have been a nurse for a few years I finally feel comfortable asking questions about things I'm not familiar with. But when I was a new grad I hardly asked any questions--probably to the detriment of my patients.
But I agree with your main premise. Sometimes it is best to just tell these new grads that even though they are now a nurse they still need to study. There is constant learning that goes on in a new grad's first year. I know I was in the books almost every day. Encourage the people who ask dumb questions to do further research on the topic when they get home. :)

I know what you mean; I am constantly reading. There is SO much to know and for me, repetitiveness works best, especially when I witness something; it comes together for me. And, I have to say, I am the nurse with spiking the IV...I was a total goofball with that one. :lol2:

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2007

It's taken me over a month to be comfortable with those cassettes for the IV pumps.

What color is blood? That's scary. What was missing from the question, I wonder.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Oct 17, 2007

Not you, definitely.

I am always amazed at the low level of knowledge some people have and still pass their boards.

All you can do is patiently teach (you don't want them to stop asking questions!) and pray.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Oct 17, 2007

I sometimes suspect that they paid someone else to take NCLEX for them...but then, there is the fingerprint issue.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2007

there are just some things you should walk out of nursing school knowing. not knowing the color of blood or even how many hep shots there are in a series is scary...especially since she probably had to get those shots prior to being let in school....i have heard some dumb things over the years that has just made me shake my head. i worked with this rn once that ask me to set up o2 for a patient...nasal cannula concentrator -simple...because she did not know how. i ask her how she ever made it 10 years as a rn without knowing how to set up oxygen....she just laughed it off.....:trout: i wonder sometimes...

nursemike, ASN, RN · Oct 17, 2007

When I graduated, I was told by my preceptors that "There are no stupid questions." I've spent the last two years testing the limits of that hypothesis, but it never occured to me to ask what color blood is.

I don't think it's you. (Still...try to be patient. Don't want to end up on the "Eating Their Young" thread:rolleyes:!

BluntForceTrauma · Oct 17, 2007

One nursing student asked me what color was blood, and her rationale for asking was that veins look green/blue. Maybe that's why the nurse asked you that question.

leslie :-D · Oct 17, 2007

seriously, someone once told me blood was blue, and once it was exposed to air, it turned red.

i've questioned that more than once. :chuckle

leslie