Most EMBARESSING Moment as a Student

Gompers, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2005

I've always been a baby about getting shots. Naturally, when I was in nursing school, my number one fear was giving shots. My first one was pretty bad (very long, large bore needle because it was a gluteal testosterone IM injection) but it was nothing compared to the day we went to the senior center to give flu shots. The other students in my clinical group were like machines - wipe with alcohol, inject, pat with gauze...wipe with alcohol, inject, pat with gauze - and I was a wreck. I was shaking so hard that I was dropping the syringes on the floor. My instructor made me sit down in the corner with my head between my legs while I cried and dry heaved. How's that for embarassing???

Just last month, my mom wanted me to give her a flu shot. She had it right there, all I had to do was give the silly injection. Here I am, almost seven years since I got my RN...and I couldn't do it. My mother was absolutely DISGUSTED with me!!! I explained that it's different with the babies at work - I never get nervous giving them injections, starting IVs, even doing arterial lab draws. It's just something about giving a shot to someone who KNOWS they're getting a shot, I guess.

Funny thing is - if it was an IM pain med, I was absolutely fine with doing the injection. I was calm because I knew the pain of the shot was nothing compared to the pain the patient was in already.

Boy it felt good to confess this and get it off my chest!!!

elkpark · Feb 7, 2005

There were so many embarassing moments in my student years that it's hard to pick a single, worst moment, but it's probably this one:

In my OR rotation in school (I went to a diploma school, so we actually spent six weeks doing four days/week of clinical in the OR, scrubbing or circulating on cases all day), I was scrubbed in on a lady partsl hysterectomy, and the surgeon had me pulling on a clamp that was retracting the woman's cervix. Now, I grew up in a medical family (dad MD, mom RN), have been around blood and guts all my life, and am not at all squeamish. HOWEVER, I have naturally low blood pressure, and am also a tall woman (6'). Since the surgeon was seated, he had the lights pulled down so they were practically right in my face. It was v. hot and stuffy inside my gown and mask, and I was having to stand v. still with both arms up over my head, pulling. Well, although the blood from the case wasn't bothering me at all, all of my blood was pooling in my legs and staying there, and I was quickly getting more and more woozy and light-headed. I tried shifting around and stamping my feet a little, but, before long, I knew that I was soon going to pass out. I spoke to the circulating nurse and told her I needed to be relieved just before I started slumping to the floor. She caught me and literally dragged me out of the OR, my instructor was summoned, and she found me on a gurney with the free OR nurses clustered around me, patting me with cold, damp washcloths and being concerned.

I assured my instructor that there was nothing significantly wrong with me except standing for too long in one place with my arms up over my head, and she sent me down to the coffee shop to get a snack before the next case in "my" room started. When I returned and checked the schedule, I found to my horror that the next case on which I was supposed to scrub was another hysterectomy by the same two surgeons I had just swooned in front of ...

I was mortified and embarassed and terrified and every other word you can think of to have to go back into the room and face the two surgeons again (my instructor would not allow me to chicken out, and sent me back in there), but they were v. pleasant and mellow about my earlier performance, and, in fact, spent the entire second case swapping stories about all the times they had thrown up or passed out while they were in med school.

So, in the end, it turned out ok, like most embarassing moments in nursing school ... :)

beautimouslove · Feb 7, 2005

I've always been a baby about getting shots. Naturally, when I was in nursing school, my number one fear was giving shots. My first one was pretty bad (very long, large bore needle because it was a gluteal testosterone IM injection) but it was nothing compared to the day we went to the senior center to give flu shots. The other students in my clinical group were like machines - wipe with alcohol, inject, pat with gauze...wipe with alcohol, inject, pat with gauze - and I was a wreck. I was shaking so hard that I was dropping the syringes on the floor. My instructor made me sit down in the corner with my head between my legs while I cried and dry heaved. How's that for embarassing???
Just last month, my mom wanted me to give her a flu shot. She had it right there, all I had to do was give the silly injection. Here I am, almost seven years since I got my RN...and I couldn't do it. My mother was absolutely DISGUSTED with me!!! I explained that it's different with the babies at work - I never get nervous giving them injections, starting IVs, even doing arterial lab draws. It's just something about giving a shot to someone who KNOWS they're getting a shot, I guess.
Funny thing is - if it was an IM pain med, I was absolutely fine with doing the injection. I was calm because I knew the pain of the shot was nothing compared to the pain the patient was in already.
Boy it felt good to confess this and get it off my chest!!!

Oh my goodness, that was crazy. But I can relate. I was practicing starting an IV which I failed the first time for not checking for the radial pulse.. Anyway, my teenage son said that I could practice on him, IF he could get off restriction for the day. So I did practice on him, every day for four days. I was so scared to hurt him, that I was crying. He just looked at me like I was crazy. It is very different when they are not in pain, and we are causing the pain. The fourth day, I got it... when the needle went in... he screamed when he saw the blood, so I pulled the needle out, forgetting to pull the catheter with it... so blood goes every where. Yes, I really failed in every way. He will never let me do that again. Needless to say, I gave him the whole week off restriction. :crying2:

hangnon · Feb 8, 2005

There were so many embarassing moments in my student years that it's hard to pick a single, worst moment, but it's probably this one:
In my OR rotation in school (I went to a diploma school, so we actually spent six weeks doing four days/week of clinical in the OR, scrubbing or circulating on cases all day), I was scrubbed in on a lady partsl hysterectomy, and the surgeon had me pulling on a clamp that was retracting the woman's cervix. Now, I grew up in a medical family (dad MD, mom RN), have been around blood and guts all my life, and am not at all squeamish. HOWEVER, I have naturally low blood pressure, and am also a tall woman (6'). Since the surgeon was seated, he had the lights pulled down so they were practically right in my face. It was v. hot and stuffy inside my gown and mask, and I was having to stand v. still with both arms up over my head, pulling. Well, although the blood from the case wasn't bothering me at all, all of my blood was pooling in my legs and staying there, and I was quickly getting more and more woozy and light-headed. I tried shifting around and stamping my feet a little, but, before long, I knew that I was soon going to pass out. I spoke to the circulating nurse and told her I needed to be relieved just before I started slumping to the floor. She caught me and literally dragged me out of the OR, my instructor was summoned, and she found me on a gurney with the free OR nurses clustered around me, patting me with cold, damp washcloths and being concerned.
I assured my instructor that there was nothing significantly wrong with me except standing for too long in one place with my arms up over my head, and she sent me down to the coffee shop to get a snack before the next case in "my" room started. When I returned and checked the schedule, I found to my horror that the next case on which I was supposed to scrub was another hysterectomy by the same two surgeons I had just swooned in front of ...
I was mortified and embarassed and terrified and every other word you can think of to have to go back into the room and face the two surgeons again (my instructor would not allow me to chicken out, and sent me back in there), but they were v. pleasant and mellow about my earlier performance, and, in fact, spent the entire second case swapping stories about all the times they had thrown up or passed out while they were in med school.
So, in the end, it turned out ok, like most embarassing moments in nursing school ... :)

Oh Wow! Well....that has happened to so many people. I got alittle dizzy on my first OR scrub in, I'm not queasy around blood or anything either but I think it was the confinement of the mask and breathing into the mask. Took me a while to get used to. Glad to hear the surgeons were sweet about it. That always makes you feel better :)

hangnon · Feb 8, 2005

Oh my goodness, that was crazy. But I can relate. I was practicing starting an IV which I failed the first time for not checking for the radial pulse.. Anyway, my teenage son said that I could practice on him, IF he could get off restriction for the day. So I did practice on him, every day for four days. I was so scared to hurt him, that I was crying. He just looked at me like I was crazy. It is very different when they are not in pain, and we are causing the pain. The fourth day, I got it... when the needle went in... he screamed when he saw the blood, so I pulled the needle out, forgetting to pull the catheter with it... so blood goes every where. Yes, I really failed in every way. He will never let me do that again. Needless to say, I gave him the whole week off restriction.

Hmmmmmmm...now THERE'S an idea.....I have a teenage son who always seems to get grounded.