I think I messed up a dressing change...Help!

[cp2012]

So I am a new graduate nurse that works alone in a clinic where employees can come in with injuries and illnesses. Well, today I had a wound that needed to be steri stripped. I've never used steri strips before on a real patient and my manager was standing over me the entire time watching...Basically, I was nervous. Looking back, I think I messed up the steri strips by...

A. Putting too many on-I didn't leave any space between the steri strips and used several.

B. It looks really sloppy...I was so nervous that there's more steri strip on one side than the other-looks uneven...

Idk why I froze up, but I am working tomorrow and wonder if I should take off the steri strips and reapply when the patient comes to see me? Or should I at least take off a few so the wound can breathe? I'm afraid the other nurse will come in on Monday and think I am an absolute idiot...Ps the wound is about 1 in, deep, and on the shin.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

They usually come off on their own in a couple days. Don't tear them off for no reason cuz u wil pull off the scar tissue.

[sbostonRN]

I've seen them both ways...with space in between and with no space in between. I think steri strips are designed to allow the wound to breathe either way. And it doesn't matter if it looks a little sloppy. As long as they are on there, sometimes they go on unevenly. No big deal! Just try to get it straighter the next time :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Be sure to tell your patient that they will be expected to fall off of their own accord in a few days, probably in the shower, and to be sure to have a strainer on the drain to catch them or he'll have a plumbing bill in addition to his copayment. :)

Never fear. This is a low-tech problem and you'll do it more neatly next time. FWIW, the packages I've seen of them are made such that you pull off the backing on one half of all the strips, leaving a sort of fringe of sticky bits ready to apply to one side of the wound all at once, then apply the other halves all at once by taking off the other backing part as you lay them down across the line. Hard to describe, but perhaps you can borrow one and fool with it to see what I mean.

[OCNRN63, RN]

​The next time you're unsure about how you did something, ask you manager for feedback right away. If she wasn't there, describe it to her, just as you did here. You're a new grad and still learning; you're going to make some mistakes.