Keep beating myself up

[regerterb]

Hello. Again

Tonight I was taking a lady up to the ward that had had intermittent chest heaviness for the past 4 days....she was off to telemetry for overnight monitoring...stable..no pain..etc. all bloods clear and EKG clear. Its about a 2 minute trip to the ward..got in the elevator..and realised i did not attach a mobile telemetry to her....did not want to take her back down and waste more time so took her to the ward where obviously they were not impressed she wasnt on mobile telemetry..clearly.my.mistake..bah! I just cant stop thinking about it and what could have happened..just so stupid 😠i told my.manager who told me not to do it again and just check everyobe that goes up if they need monitoring. I have a hard time letting things like this go any tips??

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

What could have happened:

1) Patient's heart stops - you'd have picked up on this without telemetry

2) Patient's has 12-lead changes indicative of ischemia - telemetry doesn't pick this up

3) Patient has some sort of non-lethal arrhythmia - a 2-minutes elevator ride would not have made any difference, you probably wouldn't have noticed anyway

Lesson learned, right?

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

We all have made similar mistakes. I bet you won't make this one again. You've reported it, you've been counseled, so now you learn from it and move on. Sounds like this happened very recently, and it always feels worst right after. As meanmaryjean explained, even the worst case scenario here was very unlikely to result in harm. It's pretty common for healthcare providers to beat ourselves up about our mistakes, but you're better served by recognizing that we are all human and that you didn't intentionally put anyone at risk, and allowing it to improve your practice going forward.

[fezz]

Everybody makes mistakes and you'll learn from this one. The patient is ok. This is not a huge deal. You were with the patient the whole time. Think about all the times tele patients has momentarily been off monitors due to pulling on leads, low batteries, showers, being transferred etc etc.

[RNOTODAY, BSN, RN]

Yup , it's a biggie, not gonna lie!! However, nothing that has not been done before ( accidentally) and there was no adverse outcome.... I'll bet you always remember now! Now, if it becomes a habit .... you will have an issue...