mistakes made during your first year...

nursealanarae · Oct 28, 2008

I have had my fair share in the six months that I have been working. Like giving an extra dose of synthroid when I thought it wasn't given that morning. Hung an antibiotic and not go back until I thought it was finished...nope hadn't moved much in 30 minutes. Not given a full dose of vitamin D ( I know not a huge deal, but it was to me). Given an anti HOURS late. However, good came out of it because I ALWAYS check to see if a med was given for sure and I always hang anti's on pumps if I can. I kinda hope I keep making little mistakes so I know what not to do instead of doing the wrong thing thinking it's right all the time. I love learning

joyfulgal, ASN, RN · Oct 28, 2008

Thank you for the great story and chuckle....I am laughing so hard, but only because I start my very first nursing job tomarrow as a new grad on a med/surg unit! Just finished the orientation, documentation and computer training today only to find out that our facility is being visited by JCAHO this week :) looks like I will be learning some good stuff right out of the gate!---thanks for sharing.

love-d-OR · Oct 29, 2008

WOW! The mistakes on this thread don't come close to beating my last encounter with rectal tube pt. I was giving 200cc of lactulose q4hr. Mind you the tube is inflated with 30cc of sterile water. Anyhow, about an hr and half after I gave my lactulose dose, I noticed she was leaking stool from aroud the tube so I got the CNA to help me clean the pt. I decide to deflate the tube (we deflate every 4hrs to allow the rectum to rest) and re-insert. As I aspirate 30cc, I try to pull the tube, but it won't. So I aspirate more, and guess what? I had inflate the tube with 100cc's. 70cc of those was lactulose! I guess I had put 130cc of lactulose in the right port and the rest in the wrong port. I tried to figure out why it happened and all I can think is the fact that I was working in the dark and going back and forth from rectal tube to lactulose bottle.

This woman's rectum could have suffered some very serious necrosis. I tried not to think about it too much, but its hard.

runningtraveler · Oct 29, 2008

wow, I feel like there isnt a day that passes that I dont make some type of mistake. I have about 1 month left of orientation and am already freaking: here's my list...

-forgot to unclamp a NS PB bolus bag and gave a bolus of d5 instead (MD surprisingly didnt care)

- gave a med in a GJ tube through J instead of G ( and I think the feed through the G...hoping not, but now I can reassure myself)

- sent med orders down without the pt stamp and then wondered why they never came

-had GT's attached to ferrel bags and didnt clamp the ferrel....the GT meds then spew back at ya...now I know

- been late on meds on crazy days, even w/ a preceptors help....ick

- forgotten to get the residents name on TO

-paged the wrong person, charted on the wrong spot, etc, etc, etc. I can't wait for the day (if it ever comes) when I come home and feel like I actually had it together that day

NeoNurseTX, RN · Oct 29, 2008

Ugh, I noticed last night that the RN before me hung the wrong fluids.. but I didn't notice until 0430! The bag was labeled by her as D10W, but the other side w/ the pharmacy label was D5 1/4 NS. I feel like it's half my fault because I noticed so late. 2 RNs have to sign off on fluids and that was done, but it's so easy to hold a bag up to another RN and just read off what is on the bag rather than check the order with the bag.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Oct 29, 2008

How do they run blood on infants? Through a 24...

Yup! It can be done!

mablackbear · Nov 20, 2008

I just want to say I'm so thankful for this board. I've been a nurse for 4 years and had a bad night tonight. But what I've learned in my short time as a nurse is that we really are all human and we always do learn from our mistakes. Once you've made them, you'll probably never make them again. So I came on here tonight and did a search for "mistakes" because I knew that just hearing from other nurses would make me feel better.

Another thing I remember learning early on was to watch your anxiety levels. In my first year I used to always start my day with a balled up knot of anxiety in my stomach. Then one day, as I was putting my things in my locker, it dawned on me that the anxiety ball was just not necessary, and that it probably increased my likelihood for mistakes. It's easier said than done, but trying to relax is essential, and finding a good buddy, and also finding those experienced "angels" on your floor that can give you good advice.

And I had to laugh at Ruby's light fixture accident. :) Ha! I did the same thing with a plastic light covering, so I was grabbing towels to protect my patients face from the rain of falling dust and plastic pieces...yuck!

jacrabbitrn · Nov 20, 2008

I am in my first year also, what a nightmare. I am so thankful for all my nurse mentors and co-workers. I hope I get over this trauma soon and can begin to find a level of comfort under complete terror. Good luck to all the new nurses, and thank you to the experienced ones who cheer us on.

LADYBUG RN · Nov 20, 2008

So, I am 1 week away from being taken out of orientation in the ED and I feel good about the non trauma stuff, but I too have made my share of mistakes.

1- giving Rochephin as an IV push instead of mixing it in a bag of fluids and hanging it. :nono:

2- not calling for help when I have two very sick patients - one having an MI and one with sats in the toilet and a third that is being admitted but is stable with staff telling me to get that patient upstairs because we need the room....as if that patient was my priority!

3- I am a klutz.....I trip over o2 lines, knock things over, say the dumbest things and feel like a blundering fool most of the time:lol2:

4-after reading someone else's post, I just realized that I never signed off on a blood transfusion yesterday either...now making it look like we never cross checked the blood with the patient! ugh.......

5- give me time...there will be more:uhoh3:

Ladybug

WindyhillBSN · Nov 21, 2008

My main problem is forgetting. I usually have to call night shift back at least twice a month to say "don't forget to resume that heparin after that" or "the pt still needs a sptum specimen" I feel so stupid!! :crying2: I wonder what they say about me behind my back??

Icess64 · Nov 24, 2008

I've certainly made a few major ones and about a jazillion minor ones...but one that I freaked about was that I admitted a patient in the morning and gave all of her am meds once the MD ordered them (of course checking the MAR against the orders) but I didn't ask her if she'd taken all of her am meds before coming to the ER. She had (never mentioned this when I was giving them to her, and she was alert and oriented!). I had to call the Dr and tell him I double dosed her, the biggest concern being her beta blocker! When he came to evaluate her, he told me I probably did her a favor because the extra metoprolol probably flipped her out of afib, which was one of the reasons she was admitted! Lucky for me :) That could have gone very badly. But now I always remember to ask them if they've taken their am meds before they were admitted! lesson learned.

CANewRN · Dec 24, 2008

On my own in the ICU for about 6 shifts and lets see:

1. Infusing phenytoin without a filter (but I did use a filter needle to draw it up) Infused fine. Figured this out later on.

2. Infusing an electrolyte into a piggyback setup that wasnt connected to the pt (he was laying on both tubings... one was connected to him, one wasnt. That setup hadnt been used since the shift before me) I let the next RN know that it had leaked and labs may have to be re-drawn.

3. Infusing an electrolyte into a dilantin setup (it went in fine... but Im worried about precepitate) Figured this out when I got home that night, I should have trashed that setup in case some was still in the line. :banghead:

Good learning points for me... Ive definatly learned but still