Mistake Right After Orientation

[Deeya_rn]

I can't believe I was "that" new grad who made a mistake right off of orientation. I'm so upset with myself. So, I work on an acute surgical floor. I had an admission the other night and I did my initial assessment. My patient had a severe fracture of her femur. Her leg was twisted inward and she wouldn't even let anyone touch it without screaming bloody murder. I did my best to move her with some help. Since she was incontinent I had a good chance to check her skin on her back which was great. I noted some bruising and a few other marks. My first admission and I was super excited. I was thorough, I thought. I come in today and find out my patient had an ulcer on the ankle of her rotated leg. How did I miss this? I feel so dumb. Did I not learn anything? I can't stop crying or even sleep. This is so not like me. I'm anticipating what my nurse manager will say and I'm getting so anxious. My nurse manager hasn't said anything yet, it was another nurse who brought it to my attention first, saying that my manager will be talking to me in her office. Will I lose my job for this? I finally thought I was getting the hang of things.

[star840839]

No one is perfect and there will Keats be mistakes, even amongst the best

[star840839]

No one is perfect and there will Keats be mistakes, even amongst the best

(Sorry,accidentally posted too soon). At work the other night I was talking with an icu nurse with10+ yrs experience. The best advise from her was that everyday she still comes to work worried about how well we will do. People (the public, doctors, other nurses) place us on such a pedestal and forget to realize the how huge of a learning gap there is. Take this as a learning experience and let your manager know how you are feeling. More than likely( if she is a decent manger) she will be grateful that she has a nurse on the floor who is willing to see her need for continued learning and will be more encouraged for your effort.

[Libby1987]

Whatever you do, don't crumble. Make sure you demonstrate how a miss like this will be avoided going forward. Focus on how you've already improved through this learning experience without saying more than you need to. Simple, straightforward, conscientious and confident.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

Don't beat yourself up about it. It happens to the best of us.

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

Why is your manager speaking to you about this? Seems like overkill for what should just be a quick teaching moment between nurses.

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

Oh my goodness!! That is a 'miss' but not a big one!

That's why nursing is a 24 hour operation :) You can't do EVERYTHING in a single shift.

Making little mistakes like this is NORMAL for new nurses. It was a simple oversight and makes sense you missed it, considering that moving her leg at all was very painful to her. I know how facilities are about 'existing' skin issues versus skin issues occurring IN the facility. We are a bottom checking bunch, aren't we?

Here's the good news. You'll probably never miss another scratch, poke or itch on another patient for a good long time

I said this on another thread -- some mistakes seem to NEED to happen in order to even learn how to avoid the mistake in the first place! This is one of them.

As for feeling like THAT NEW GRAD . . . sigh . . . no you aren't. This is catastrophic thinking. It's like being the opposite of grandiose -- oh, I am SOOO AWFUL!! Of course you are not.

The collision between 'nursing school mindset' and the real world of nursing is tough, but the good news is that making this kind of mistake is small potatoes. Worthy of not doing it again. A very experienced nurse could have and would have made the same mistake, so what was that again about THAT NEW GRAD?

[turtle0206]

mistakes happen, you are new i'll say it again... yes mistakes will happen! When my nursing career started i told myself "any mistakes i make, i will remember them so that they won't happen again."

Just think during your next admission you won't forget to check every inch of skin! lol

seriously don't beat yourself up, new grads are watched over because little mistakes such as this one are expected. learn from your mistakes and you'll be great! :) good luck

[VANurse2010]

If your manager has an office talk about this inconsequential nonsense*, I'd question how well-managed this unit is.

*In the grand scheme of things, that's what it is.

[fin0814]

OMG.. This is such an overkill!!! This is the reason why I left acute care in the first place. Such nit-picky things. Why didn't the RN after you just come and tell you instead of going to the nurse manager? I know, because she wants you to get into trouble and cause DRAMA. Now, if this was a stage IV ulcer then I think the miss would be an issue, but a small ulcer that was found by the next nurse??? Come on people, let's help each other out and support each other. Let's teach the new RNs, not berate them and go tattle telling to the higher ups. We, as nurses, have some many major issues to deal with on one shift without having to worry if we are going to get reported for something so inconsequential. This makes me see red!

[Deeya_rn]

Wow! Thank you all for your amazing suggestions and feedback. I really needed a little pick-me-up and reading responses from more experienced nurses did the trick. I was beating myself up for the mistake because I never want to miss anything that if caught, would have given me the opportunity to better treat my patient. I realize now that this will be a good learning experience for me. And I definitley will be checking every inch of skin next admission I get! Thank you all again!!

[barankasia]

I'm so happy to read this post and all of your replies...I am at the end of my orientation in a critical setting and the last few weeks are just kicking my butt. I cannot stop worrying about everything. I had a talk with the supervisors and they are switching my preceptor to evaluate how I'm doing. I'm so scared of making mistakes, forgetting to draw labs, rechecking orders etc. I'm super stressed...