I'm SUCH an IDIOT!!

Ok, you guys...I am currently nursing my sorrows in a beer...I just knocked out a double (3-11, 11-7), and have now officially been up since 630 yesterday morning. So, here's my tale of woe (and ignorance)!

I worked 3-11, was due to be back on 1st shift today. Nights had a call off, so I stayed over for the double, and they replaced me for this a.m. Mind you, I had called off sick the day before, and wasn't feeling quite "up to snuff," but figured, what could go wrong on nights?

Well, plenty. I truly messed up. At 915pm, I (SURPRISE!) found out I was getting an admission who was supposed to come over the w/e, but never did. OK, yeah, that put a snafu in my night (he came during med pass, on a skilled unit of a bunch of A & O folks who are relatively demanding (and lots of prns requested, etc). So, I'm trying to juggle my assessment of the new guy, knowing I'm gonna have to call Doc to verify orders, etc, while trying to knock out the med pass...(don't you DARE be late with their pills!).

So, this guy had ppn (as opposed to tpn) and came with the bag and tubing, just needed to be hooked up to a pump. Here's where it gets sticky. I'm not iv certified, and the other (and only) 3 nurses are lpns like myself, 2 of which are certified. Sticky #1 was that before we realized none of us could mess w/tpn (even though it was through a picc), one of the nurses tried hooking him up to the pump, but we didn't have the right tubing. I should add that by the time she could could come over to try to connect him, it was after her med pass, pushing 11pm.

Well, after realizing the tubing wasn't jibing w/the pump, it was now after midnight (d/t interruptions, etc). We all "pow-wowed," and it dawned on me...(DUHHHH) were we allowed to hang it, even if the tubing was right? We weren't initiating the first bag...blah blah. Well, after hunting for tubing, which took up some time (sounds like a terrible comedy/tragedy, doesn't it??) that's when we busted out the good ol' policy book. Lo and behold, we can't mess w/tpn...just monitor.

At this point, it's getting to be around 1a.m. Here's the Sticky situation, "DUH" moment #2: someone suggested I call the D.O.N., but then, we rationalized that the guy would be ok w/o it til 7am. We figured as such b/c he wasn't npo, and that the reason he was receiving the fluids was b/c his appetite was poor; otherwise, he was on a regular diet (as one of my coworkers pointed out, "we don't eat at night, it won't hurt him to go until 7," when an RN would be in the house), and wasn't diabetic.

I never thought to call pharmacy to drop ship tubing, and didn't want to wake my D.O.N. over this. Well, I should have. The ADON came in, and I told her the situation, and she about ****. Called the D.O.N. to get advice, and proceeded to talk, hang up, and comment that she (D.O.N.) was pissed. UGH.

The ADON called the Doc, who wasn't mad. But, I left out of there feeling like a complete, blithering idiot. I'm smarter than that! what the hell? And, I know there's a write up in my future b/c of it.

I'm sooo frustrated at myself. I've been around tpns, but its been awhile. Then, of course, she had to say something to the effect of-and I KNEW what she was going to say by the way she started speaking- what was gonna come out of her mouth "I'm not trying to pull the "rn-lpn thing, but this is why there's a difference. We've had longer training. The ****** part is, she's partially right, but that was a hard pill to swallow, and I had no leg to stand on in my defense. On the same token, she's a new grad who's on a power trip, which really frosts the cake. GRRRRRR!!!! >>>DUMMY!!! And, I think that was a low blow...I just screwed up. I swear, believe it or not, I know better. Where was my head???

I'm sorry for this being so long and drawn out. I'm just so disappointed in myself. I just wanted to vent. Go ahead, put me on "stupido" blast...just please be gentle!!