encouragement...tips???

Nursing Students General Students

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Specializes in post-op.

Hello all! I am new here. I am in my 2nd semester of an associate program for my RN. Last night at clinical I was testing out of my injection skill and I failed it! When I went to insert the needle it bounced of my patients skin! I only have 2 more tries and I have to test out of IVPB too! Anyone have any tips for me? Last semester I never once had a problem. My instructor said it looked like I did everything fine, angle, bevel up. I guess I am not pushing hard enough?? I was so upset with myself, I started to cry after she told me I did not pass. Plus this happened to me the last time I gave an SQ and I am sure that the patient doesn't appreciate it either! If anyone has any tips on how I can overcome this, I would be very thankful!

Specializes in Critical Care / Psychiatry.

Carefully stick it alllllll the way in. It goes in as deep as the needle-length.

Don't be afraid! Stick it! It's just another blip in the radar. Relax and think about all the nurses across the world who give shots. If they can, you can too!

It helps me to hold it like a dart and just stick...then go up and aspirate if I need to or just push the plunger.

Shel

Specializes in Rural Health.

Just stick them...don't think about it...just do it. It hurts a lot less when someone just sticks you and doesn't think about it. I get a lot of shots and I can always tell the nurses who stop and think vs. the ones that just do it.

True story...we were doing labs and practicing giving shots on one another and this girl when to give a SQ shot, it bounced off her "patient" and the whole needle and all went flying across the room. Obviously would've been bad had it happened in the "real world". She failed lab that day (which in our school is not that big of a deal) but she now has a "horror" story to tell.

Just chalk it up to yet another experience and try again. You'll do fine!!!

Specializes in Med/Surge.

When we were in skills lab doing our shots, before check offs, I got a cheap piece of meat (thick roast) and an orange and practiced giving them shots. I know it sounds crazy but the orange was tough skinned (like worn skin is) and the meat was just like human muscle, plus with these you can practice aspirating!! And you can practice your technique and get comfortable with it.

I used to be scared to death to give shots to people but I think after doing the initial one successfully made each subsequent one alot easier!! I have found that to be true with almost all the skills I have done.

Good Luck and know it will get better. Don't dwell on the mistake-learn from it and move one.

For the injection, just hold it like a dart and don't look back. A classmate of mine had it boune off the patient's skin. She held it like a really strange dart, actually, I don't know wear she learned that from.

For IVPB, just go slow and think about each step. Make sure you're clamped on all ends when you need to be, that you prime the secondary tubing, and practice!!

I don't have any tips, just wanted to say good luck!

Try to remain calm - I failed my IV check-offs last semester just because I got so worked up/emotional that I couldn't concentrate! :)

Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
I don't have any tips, just wanted to say good luck!

Try to remain calm - I failed my IV check-offs last semester just because I got so worked up/emotional that I couldn't concentrate! :)

I'm graduating very soon- 22 more class days!- and last week at clinical, as I was giving a morphine IV push, I remembered how terrified I was to give all of my 'firsts'....IM, SQ, hanging a primary, priming tubing (which i now do every day at work!)...and I thought I would *never* get to a point where I could push IV meds. Well, I did, and you will, too. Wanna know what lab I failed? The one on giving an enema. I couldn't remember if it was left or right Sims. Well, you better believe I figured it out- and I never got it wrong again. Making mistakes on everything won't happen to you, I can say with certainty- but when you *do* make mistakes, you'll learn it for GOOD.

I know it seems daunting now, but you'll learn by doing. that was hard for me- I'd always learned by reading, or seeing- not by doing, which is the only way to do it in nursing. it's a different way of learning, but you WILL become proficient in it. Good luck- you'll be great!

In LPN school, I failed one check off for not knowing the sites of an IM injection....

Hang in there, I passed, and so will you!

I had to take my daughter to ER for broken foot. Nurse comes in to give injection of pain med. Guess what.....needle bounced off daughters arm, second time a charm. So it even happens to the best of us. Hang in there. Nurse said she was afraid to push to hard because daughter had small arm and she was afraid she would go to far in and hit the bone.

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