I am scared to do CPR

[Luna1326, ADN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I am frightened that I won't do it right, or that I will freeze in the middle of someone needing to do it. To clarify, I LOVE being a nurse, I love caring for people, and making their day better or easier, and I know nursing is not all peaches and sunshine. I am an LPN. I am still going to school for RN. But I just wonder if I am enough, or do I know enough. Are my techniques correct, am I doing it EXACTLY like I am supposed to, and I worry I forget things or don't remember every step. I know CPR is not about you, it is about the person you are trying to save. I just am so frightened that something I do will hurt someone instead of saving them, and I so want to do everything right. Otherwise, I feel I have great assessment skills, and seem to do fine at work, and catch things that get over sighted sometimes, and am thorough otherwise. I did well in school, passed my boards the first time. I am just not sure of myself. Does that make me a terrible nurse? Does that mean I shouldn't do this line of work if I am so unsure? I'm not a know-it-all, I just feel I need to constantly be learning, and how to do I make sure I am, constantly refreshing my skills and my knowledge without seeming stupid? I just want to do everything right!

[bela747]

This is what will make you a good nurse! Nursing is a profession where we constantly need to learn and grow to stay current. Confidence comes with experience, when the time comes , you will be surprised at how much you really do know. Best of luck!

[Sippie]

Think of it this way: What will happen if you do nothing? With life saving activities, doing some type of cpr is probably better than none lol. I get that you want to do everything correctly and you are scared. This is normal for a new nurse. What you need to do is jump on each and every opportunity to do CPR that you can even if you are scared ****less. They are all learning experiences and as you gain more confidence and skill the fear will gradually leave.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

QUOTE>>> frightened that something I do will hurt someone instead of saving them>>> QUOTE

Baby,they are DEAD-way beyond your hurting them in any way. I Have known plenty of nurses,LPN,RN (ADN

[mmciv]

I've been there and then I've been forced to get through it. When you walk into the code, just remember to breathe. You may hesitate more than a more experienced nurse to start compressions but that's okay. It will come. Remember, hard and fast in the center of the chest. If you don't feel your compressions are adequate ask someone to check that your compressions are causing a central pulse. When you get tired, ask to switch. And everyone who posted is correct, worry less about doing something wrong while doing CPR, the patient is dead everything you do is helping.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

My first time was as a recorder. I did not participate in the actual code. It helped me to see and hear what was being done.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

If you're doing it wrong, someone will either correct you or push you out of the way so they can do it right.

If you're alone for some reason, doing it wrong is better than not doing it. After all, you can't make someone deader.

CPR is a piece of cake... hard and fast. AT LEAST two inches and AT LEAST 100 compressions per minute.

Push hard, push fast... change every two minutes.

If you do anything wrong it will be not pushing hard enough or fast enough, especially as you begin to tire.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

I agree with wooh. My first time doing CPR was quite nervewrecking. A man over 300lbs had coded and I had to find a way to position myself to do CPR which was difficult. I did maybe 10-20 compressions before a more seasoned nurse yelled" Can we get some effective compressions here"? and then before I knew it someone had took over. I didn't feel offended at all. It was my first time, and I needed to be corrected, more importantly the man needed to live.

The man lived, Thank God. A few days later he smiled at me and said he remembered me. His wife and daughter me as well.

The next few codes, I continued to perform CPR and I knew I was doing it well when no one volunteered to jump in.

Just know to push hard and fast.

[Do-over, ASN, RN]

I did maybe 10-20 compressions before a more seasoned nurse yelled" Can we get some effective compressions here"? and then before I knew it someone had took over. I didn't feel offended at all.

You might not have been offended, but there wasn't really a need for anyone else to be a butt-head about it. I am thinking it would have been more efficient to correct you and teach you and let you continue.

I was doing compressions once (it wasn't my first time) and another team member did ask if I could compress harder/deeper/faster (by golly that sounds dirty). I wasn't doing well enough according to the capnography thingy. I couldn't. That instance was the most difficult patient to compress that I have run across. Unfortunately, that person remained dead.

[JBudd, MSN]

Mostly they remain dead anyway, even when we get them back fewer than half leave the hospital. Upright that is.

The adrenaline tends to cut in, but now is not the time to "teach" in the middle of a code. Telling someone what to do better is fine, but if you really aren't effective, let someone else do it! Then go practice more on the resusiciAnne (now that just dated me! lol). Some chests are incredibly hard to compress, and it takes more than technique, it takes a large hefty person to push down with enough weight.

OP, when the time comes, just do it. Deep breaths and get it there. The instructions have changed so many times over the years, that this deade's "correct" is last decade's no-nos. Getting oxy to the brain is what is important. Ribs will break loose under your hands sometimes, but breaks heal, dead doesn't. After all, you haven't frozen at other tense times have you? Your training and desire to help will kick in.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

You might not have been offended, but there wasn't really a need for anyone else to be a butt-head about it. I am thinking it would have been more efficient to correct you and teach you and let you continue.

Yes, it's really important to take the time to coddle the feelings of people in the room. Sure, those seconds could mean the difference between getting blood to the person's brain. But why preserve brain tissue when you can instead preserve someone's feelings?