Yesterday at work, I was taking the blood sugar on a patient and after putting the blood on the strip and waiting the 8 years for our ancient, piece of c r a p glucometer to read the results, it read "error" so I grabbed another strip, reset the glucometer and instead of poking the guy again, attempted to just squeeze out another drop from where I already stabbed his finger - BIG MISTAKE. The blood squirted out directly into my eyeball. I mean, it was a gusher. I had no idea that much blood could come out of a tiny pinprick. So, then I had to do the whole exposed to blood protocol and worry about getting diseases.
So, yeah, don't go squeezin' clotted off fingers and if you do, don't be an IDIOT and point them at your own face.
What stupid mistake have you made that we can all learn from?
oh, god, once i was doing a ride-along with the acls ambulance and we responded to a man down call. turned out to be alittle old man about 90 years old, and his wife had put a pillow under his head and a blanket over him before she called 911... anyway, not much rhythm and just about no pulse. paramedic put a medicath (remember medicaths?) in an antecubital and went to hook up a connector and an iv. i said, smartly, "you know, you can hook the iv right up to that," went to do so.... and pulled the dang thing right out of the vein. some hotshot icu nurse, me.
If you find you PEG tube clogged and will be attempting to unclog, always wear some glasses, a mask, a gown, and if at all possible, a hairnet. Also, cover as much of the patient as you can to protect them.
I did this the other day. Went to unclog the feeding tube; tried putting warm water, cranberry juice, milking etc... I was pushing the cranberry juice with the syringe when the tube ballooned, the side port opened up and my syringe dislodged. My patient and I took a shower of cranberry juice mixed in with Glucerna and stomach fluids. My face, my mouth, eyes, hair, clothes everything was a mess.
All I could think was, dang,, I hope I don't catch something.
Thanks for the heads up. I have been a nurse for 5 years and take blood sugars quite often. Quite often instead of pricking a person again, if the glucometer doesn't give me a good reading I ALWAYS would make a second try from the same stick. Never have I had that problem. Lucky I guess! These are the things they don't tell you in Nursing school...
This must be why the lances we have are so darn small. It is futile to try to get more blood from a minute old stick.
Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.
another scenario that occur to me long ago, on a full moon weekend, i was at ed taking care of a 355pds. 6'5" sob pt. as the doctor ordered an abg, the rt was working on another pt. we were swamped since the nearest hosp. went on diversion. i gathered my supplies and got the artery at the first try, that's when the pt. went into a seizure, as i tried to remove the needle it seemed like forever as the artery gushed blood like "old faithful" i finally jump on top of the arm as the blood splattered all over my face and scrubs i removed the needle and press tightly on the artery...needless to say, i became another pt. in our ed
was drawing blood in home health, opened my butterfly package, proceeded to draw the blood, looked down and blood was pouring out of the other end. apparently when i took the butterly out of the package, the bottom connector came off. what a mess.....all over the patients chair and carpet.
i clamped it off with my fingers and got another butterfly and put the connector on the other one.
I was caring for a pt in a coma, in an ICU. I was doing my preceptorship and right in front of my preceptor was flushing out the tubing on my pts flexiseal. flushed once, no problem. tube still needs flushed. flush twice, nothing is coming through the tube. I look up at my preceptor perplexed as he notices that i have my big ol' piston syringe hooked up to the balloon port I was horrified! I quickly drew back and removed everything i just injected into my poor pt. I just wanted to crawl in bed with him and die! Thank god for the both of us he was in a coma. My classmates never let me live that down and even gave my preceptor an extra nice gift for not giving me hell for it. Im still having a hard time admitting to this lol.
My first year in Nursing I put an NG tube in a guy with some sort of gastric bleeding. He was one of those guys, 55 yrs old and his 80 yr old mother was sitting out in the waiting room to take her darling son home (It was 2 am, who drags their 80 yr old Mom out at 2 am?)
I went to put the tube in and the patient just started to spew Blood, projectile vomiting of the blood in my face. Being surprised, I then did the unthinkable...I opened my mouth in that "O"
Yes he had Hep C.
And yes, I spent months getting blood drawn. After that, I have alwys worn a face shield for NG tubes, even when people make fun of me for it....
I had only been a nurse for 2 months and had to do a blood draw. The night nurse had tried but she couldn't get it so she recommended that I do a syringe draw cause the red tubes we had didn't have very good suction. So I draw the blood with a syringe and I insert the needle into the tube and it doesn't get sucked in, so I push alittle on the syringe and the tube flies off and blood is everywhere...on me the resident, table and floor....and God bless his soul, my resident reaches over and pats my arm and says its ok honey, I've got more blood. Couldn't help but giggle and clean up my mess....that wont ever happen again!
I was horrified! I quickly drew back and removed everything i just injected into my poor pt. I just wanted to crawl in bed with him and die! Thank god for the both of us he was in a coma. My classmates never let me live that down and even gave my preceptor an extra nice gift for not giving me hell for it. Im still having a hard time admitting to this lol. 
nurseprnRN, BSN, RN
1 Article; 5,116 Posts
oh, god, once i was doing a ride-along with the acls ambulance and we responded to a man down call. turned out to be alittle old man about 90 years old, and his wife had put a pillow under his head and a blanket over him before she called 911... anyway, not much rhythm and just about no pulse. paramedic put a medicath (remember medicaths?) in an antecubital and went to hook up a connector and an iv. i said, smartly, "you know, you can hook the iv right up to that," went to do so.... and pulled the dang thing right out of the vein. some hotshot icu nurse, me.