Incompetent nurse

[msz_nono]

So I am a new nurse who started in the field 4 months ago, and I feel that I am horrible at it. There are a lot of things that I did not learn at school that I encounter during my shifts. Since I didn't learn how to do them, I had to ask the other nurses and I feel that they think I am incompetent and a hopeless nurse. I also made a big mistake. I had to administer immunoglobulin to a patient and there were 3 bottles to give. So I did the double verification with the nurse in charge for the 1st bottle and since it was the first time I was doing it she showed me the 2 other bottles. However, I administered the 2 other bottles without doing the double verification as the protocole. When I realized it, I wanted to burst into tears. The nurse in charge told me it was not a big of deal and just fill an incident report. I am sure that it is a significant mistake, and I am thinking if I made the right choice by entering the nursing field. (sorry for the english mistakes, I'm french)

[sharpeimom]

I think you are being much to hard on yourself. I'm not making light of your mistake. Not at all. You should have had verification of each of the second two bottles. But you know what? You will never forget this error ever, and you will never make it again. I can guarantee it! This experience will make you a much more careful nurse. Any nurse who says s/he has never made a meds error is either lying or has just graduated yesterday. It is a fact of being a human being, a mere mortal that we can and do make mistakes occasionally.

You did the right thing when you realized what you had done. Morally, ethically, legally, in every way you did what you should have done. That makes you a good person and a good nurse. What you are, however, is a new and inexperienced nurse. Something every one of us was at some point. You are not incompetent, bad, terrible. You are NEW. Quit beating yourself up! No nurse ever learned all she should have as a student, is taught everything she needs to know for after she graduates. It takes a very minimum of one year to become basically competent, and it takes some people longer.

Hang in there and it will get easier.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I totally agree with sharpeimom ^^^^.

Your mistake was due to 'insufficient knowledge' which led to an erroneous assumption - not carelessness or deliberate disregard of normal practice. So it is not indicative of poor practice or incompetence. Seriously. Now that you know that IG must be treated the same way as other blood products, you are never going to make that mistake again.

Your behavior and reaction to the error indicates that you are holding yourself accountable & functioning at a very high level of integrity.

[msz_nono]

Thank you. I really appreciate your comment. It gives me hope :). I will certainly never forget that mistake ever again.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

the first year is the hardest....((HUGS)) we have all been there

[RN119]

I too am a new nurse and I feel the same way girlfriend.. been out of orientation since mid July and somedays I feel like total amateur night... been yelled at by docs and eye rolled by coworkers... we gotta be there for each other...

[SuccessDiva]

Don't call yourself an incompetent nurse...why would you put yourself down like that! You made a mistake and now you can learn from it. Remember, you have tons of resources available to you. You should always look up a medication or a procedure that you are not familiar with......the more you do it....the more information you retain and the easier your work become...hopefully :). I made a mistake as a new grad....I gave the patient more Librium that I was supposed because I was not paying attention.....thankfully nothing happened to the patient.... I was honest about it to my manager...I filled out an incident report and that was it. After that event….I certainly triple checked every medication order before I administered it to the patient.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Nobody gets out of nursing school, your coworkers included, knowing everything. Nobody. They don't expect you to know everything because they didn't either. They would be more concerned if you didn't ask questions and just jumped in doing things you didn't know how to do because you didn't want to look incompetent. Doing what you don't know how to do, now, that's incompetence. They do not think you are incompetent. Believe me, they would have told you if they did!

You are making normal progress in your first year. Thank your lucky stars you have the good sense to feel bad when you make an error and are smart enough not to do it again. (not everyone has that much sense)

One day ant a time, and take it easier on yourself. Learn to forgive yourself for being human, and you'll be OK.

[krisiepoo]

In my opinion, asking questions does not label one as incompetent, it shows that you don't know how to do something and instead of doing something incorrectly, you are asking someone to show you how to do it correctly, which shows competence.

[Mopples]

As a new grad 3 months into my grad program, I have to agree with others, that asking questions is a good thing. We do not know everything and it is better to ask questions of things you are unsure of rather then jump in hope for the best. Look after your registration, you have worked hard for it.

I have just had my 3 month appraisal and my NUM, ward educator and program coordinators all said that asking questions was one of my strong points.

[akn1563]

I totally understand this I took four months on orientation on a cardiovascular step down unit and I always thought I was stupid and was going to make a mistake it took a year on night shift before I felt confident again. Then I switched back to days because a position opened up and I feel even more incompetent. My advice: find one or a sect few who are your "resources" who you can trust and talk to them. My person is my preceptor on days at the beginning and has been my rock since when we work together. Hope this helps good luck !