Lost my placement

[nursingstudent67]

HI everyone,

Newbie here. I have been reading some of the other articles and I can see that they get some really good responses. So, I thought I would give it a try.

I am ashamed to say that I have been pulled out of my placement. I have made too many med errors and I was told I was unsafe.

Error 1...left meds in the drawer and didn't admin them,

Reason I was told by my sub-preceptor to pour the meds for this resident and then I couldn't find her, so I put them in a cup and set them in the drawer under her name, I told my sub that I couldn't find her and ended up leaving at 930 pm. The following shift I was pulled into the DOCs office and was blamed for the error. Normally my preceptor dont pour the meds or click of received until it happens, but I was too afraid to speak up about it to this sub preceptor.

Error 2...I was reminded on 3 different occasions to remove a nitro patch,

Error 3 I crushed a long-acting Parkinson's med., but was told it was ok and not to do it again.

So, I am not disputing my problems, but for some reason my heads no in the game and I take full responsibility for the errors.

My questions is

Who can give me some tips to help me stay focused when I am sooooooo nervous on placement?

[mrsboots87]

These are actually relatively major med errors.

By placing the meds in the drawer and not saying anything to anyone, it sounds like that patient missed their meds or got them very late. If you were unsure where your preceptor was or what to do you should have told you instructor at the very least, but a better bet would have been to find another nurse with access to the Pyxis to return the meds for you.

Nitro patch? Eek, hopefully the med had truly been used up in the patch but some potential serious issues could have arises from that. You should have written it down if you couldn't get to it then, or just gone right then to remove it.

Crushinf an extended release med can have serious consequences as well. Especially with Parkinson's meds as that is what controls their tremors and other symptoms.

I know (hope) you know these things already and am truly not trying to beat you up. Honestly, it sounds like you don't manage your time or responsibilities well and you lack confidence in the clinical setting. It is very hard to teach these things or advise how to improve. Part of it comes with maturity to be able to speak up instead of just leaving things because you are too nervous. When you don't know, ask. When something needs to get done you have to prioritize and manage your time, and you need to READ orders and medication labels so you don't give wrong doses or crush meds that shouldn't be crushed.

You ou don't nearly half the responsibility of a nurse while in clinical so the lack of clinical judgement is worrisome. You need to really reflect on yourself and your knowledge. Maybe ask yourself if something is appropriate and if so why before you do anything.

Is leaving meds in a drawer appropriate? No, so problem solve and get those meds returned or passed to the patient.

Is is leaving a nitro patch in too long appropriate? No, so manage your time and priorities better based on importance and what is emergent be not emergent.

Is is crushing an ER pill ok? Never. So read the labels to see what it is you are given. All ER meds are labeled as such so that they are not broken open or crushed.

Take some time off to focus on what causes you to not think about what you do before doing it because unsafe med passing in school bodes a poor future in nursing when the stress is piled on and you are pulled in every direction to get everything done.