I feel TERRIBLE!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I JUST drove my boyfriend to work and on the way there I swore I saw a car upside down in the ditch (it's nighttime). I even said to him "did you see that?" to which he said "what? I had my eyes closed" and I said "I swear I saw a car in the ditch" and he didn't really say anything. For whatever reason, I just kept on driving him to work. Of course, on the way back home, tons of flashing lights and fire trucks everywhere. I'm a nursing student and I feel terrible and started bawling after I saw the lights. WHY DID I KEEP GOING?! and what makes it worse is not only am I ashamed of myself, I can't help but blame him too....

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Specializes in ICU.

Do NOT blame yourself for this. It is not your fault, and there's likely nothing you could have done that would have made a significant difference in whatever the outcome is. You *may* have been able to alert emergency services faster, but maybe not. There's no point in beating yourself up about this. Try to let it go.

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Specializes in PACU, Surgery, Acute Medicine.

It's great that you feel a sense of responsibility, but you are not God. I'm with juliann, you have to let this one go. You're a student now, you have a long career of stopping at car accidents ahead of you! :) And you can use this as a self-teaching moment. Now you know how you feel when you pass up a car accident, so make the decision that next time, you will stop. And then do it.

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Thanks so much. I needed to tell someone, but not anyone in my nursing class! Love this site! but hate all the what ifs in nursing! next time I'm stopping!

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

next time I'm stopping

Or at least call 911.

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Well, calling 911 really would be all you could do. In talking to EMS people they so don't want you waltz in just to screw it up. And you can screw it up. Emergency response is a whole different deal, you approach the situation differently and this is to prevent escalating the damage you already have at hand IMHO.

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as a former first-responder i must agree with the above poster. just passing by an accident scene in your car you are not prepared to assure that the scene is safe for you to attempt a rescue. there could be downed live-wires, leaking fluids from the vehicle... you never know what you are coming up on. besides the danger you put yourself in, you can potentially do more harm to an injured person by pulling them out of a vehicle without first stablizing their cervical spine... that can make the difference between life and death or permanent disability for a person. i'm not saying don't stop but consider what you are doing because everything has consequences, even when you are trying to do the right thing. by all means call 911. if you call from a cell make sure you can give them an accurate location, like a nearby address or prominent landmark. this will be crucial info and saves valuable minutes of the "golden hour". good luck in nursing school!

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Have to agree with the previous posters. There is very little you can do by yourself, and it's hard to know if a scene is safe enough for you to help without becoming a second victim in the process. The very best and most safe thing you can do is call 911. Rescuers don't need more victims to save.....

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as a former first-responder i must agree with the above poster. just passing by an accident scene in your car you are not prepared to assure that the scene is safe for you to attempt a rescue. there could be downed live-wires, leaking fluids from the vehicle... you never know what you are coming up on. besides the danger you put yourself in, you can potentially do more harm to an injured person by pulling them out of a vehicle without first stablizing their cervical spine... that can make the difference between life and death or permanent disability for a person. i'm not saying don't stop but consider what you are doing because everything has consequences, even when you are trying to do the right thing. by all means call 911. if you call from a cell make sure you can give them an accurate location, like a nearby address or prominent landmark. this will be crucial info and saves valuable minutes of the "golden hour". good luck in nursing school!

i so agree with all those that dont advise stopping for an accident scene. call 911.. that is the best thing you can do, leave the ems skills to the professionals.

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thanks for all of your input. i meant i would stop to see if what i saw was actually an accident (it was nighttime!) and call 911 and reassure people that help was on the way (i wouldn't feel competent doing much else yet!). thank you for opening my eyes about the potential dangers.

so would you recommend nurses getting car emergency first aid kits or just leave it to the EMTs?

the good news is the accident was in a field almost directly across from a fire hall! and i have yet to hear anything about anyone getting injured.

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A similar thing happened to me (sort of). I was driving at night in the rain and I thought I saw an injured dog by the side of the road. I kept going down the street, but I felt guilty and I kept thinking about that dog. I had to know if he was OK and I couldn't let him die in the street so I turned around. By the time I got back to the spot, a police officer and another passerby were on the scene. I felt so relieved. Another time I was driving on the highway and I saw a car on FIRE in the breakdown lane. The driver was out of the car standing at a distance. I called 911, this time without hesitation. Apparently a lot of people had called in according to the 911 dispatcher and help was on the way. I learned that it doesn't take much to call 911 and help someone out! :)

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