New RN, how to save face

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I’m a new grad, 6 months in CCU so far. Last night I did something so stupid I feel like I want to crawl in a hole and not come out to face anyone at work for months. We just did shift change and I was in assessing my vented patient. He was completely stable, good pressure and pulse. Family was minutes away to sign the papers to switched to palliative care. I realized his pupils were pinpoint and nonreactive. I checked them several times then decided I should let the doctor know before family arrived. In comes the resident and 2 interns. I began to say to them I just wanted to let you know his pupils are no relative and he is Not responsive to painful stimuli. And then I say “so do you want to call it?” I didn’t even realize I said it until the intern listened to his heart and said he had a pulse. Then I kinda felt this weird out of body experience like did I really just say that out loud. We all left the room and a few minutes later I stepped back into the residents office and said something like I want to addend the earlier comment, I don’t know what I was saying, I knew he had a pulse and didn’t mean to say that. But I cannot shake the feeling of being a complete idiot. I’m afraid they will tell other doctors and nurses and everyone will think I am as incompetent as I feel. Any advice on what to do?

Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
2 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

Do you think every single person in your department has a bonehead story of their own? Of course they do. They're just not going to tell it.

Bone head stories are much like med errors in that any nurse who says they have never made one is probably telling porkies

IMO

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I was covering for another nurse who was on her lunch break, and a call light from one of her rooms came on. I was in a particularly good mood that evening and waltzed into the room with a cheerful "WassUP, homie?" And then I went around the curtain...and the patient was African-American. I was so embarrassed. It was stupid of me to use the vernacular anyway. He was OK with it though. ?

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6 hours ago, K+MgSO4 said:

Don't worry about it!

Just be kind to the next person who makes a fluff and pay it forward.

Exactly, and now the OP has her own oopsie story to pass along when the next person sticks their foot in their mouth ?

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
4 hours ago, VivaLasViejas said:

I was covering for another nurse who was on her lunch break, and a call light from one of her rooms came on. I was in a particularly good mood that evening and waltzed into the room with a cheerful "WassUP, homie?" And then I went around the curtain...and the patient was African-American. I was so embarrassed. It was stupid of me to use the vernacular anyway. He was OK with it though. ?

VivaLasVeiejas . I'm still laughing!! Can I put this in my new book?

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
9 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

Do you think every single person in your department has a bonehead story of their own? Of course they do. They're just not going to tell it.

Hmmm... I'm now tempted to start a thread. "Your most bonehead moment in nursing" If I get 5 likes I'll do it.

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15 minutes ago, FolksBtrippin said:

Hmmm... I'm now tempted to start a thread. "Your most bonehead moment in nursing" If I get 5 likes I'll do it.

(whispers Dooooo iiiiiiit)

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Specializes in Dialysis.
18 minutes ago, CharleeFoxtrot said:

(whispers Dooooo iiiiiiit)

I'm whispering in the other ear "resist temptation....oh, what the heck, let's see what happens!"

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
1 hour ago, Hoosier_RN said:

I'm whispering in the other ear "resist temptation....oh, what the heck, let's see what happens!"

Do it! Do it! I'm dying of laughter

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I will remember to the day I die the time I mentioned my classmate's mother to her when her mother had recently passed away. I can't remember why on earth I would have had occasion to bring up someone's mother at school, but I remember that I did it. And that faux pas was committed by a kid. We all have the opportunity to do something like this. Our mouths lose their connection to our brains.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
2 hours ago, CharleeFoxtrot said:

(whispers Dooooo iiiiiiit)

It's done! Go check it out.

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU/PCU/Telemetry.

One of the many side-effects of nursing, especially critical/emergency care. You will find the longer you are a nurse you will develop strange little neuronal behaviors. Foot in mouth syndrome is usually the first to emerge, along with “I don’t even know what I am saying” syndrome, and then “oh what, I’m sorry I’m just talking to myself.” Along with many others, no worries own it it just means your brain is multitasking and critically thinking and sometimes all of that try’s to get vocalized at once. Wait until you ask a patients family member about their mom or dads medical history ect. And they say that’s my wife or husband! Good times!

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A part of me thought your post was hilarious (mainly because it is something I can picture myself doing lol) and another part of me can empathize with your feelings.

I have only been working for about a year on a cardiothoracic unit and I have did and said PLENTY of embarrassing things. I am a chronic over thinker and am very in tune with social cues and others' nonverbal body language. A few weeks ago I found myself in a situation with a surgeon who had just come up to our floor and stated he wanted to do "surgery" on my patient at the bedside. Pt was in for r/o sepsis and needed an abscess drained. He was unable to do it in the OR due to the influx of traumas we had that day and the patient had been NPO for the entire day. He wrote down a list of surgical supplies I needed to get and I called down to the OR to get the rest (which wasn't any easy feat). Long story short, we were in the pt's room & he had asked me to hand him an 18g needle. I handed him what I had grabbed earlier and he looked at me like I had 4 heads. He said "not this, I need an 18g needle!!" I ran out of the room, grabbed another 18g needle & went over to my coworkers. "Guys, wth am I supposed to do...he said this isn't an 18g needle! Is there something different?!" They also looked at me like I was crazy. I think I had us all in a panic hahaha I made the senior nurse go back into the room with me. I looked at the surgeon & said, "is this not what you need?" He looked at me & said "yeah...you handed me an 18 and 20 gauge accucath."

I about died of embarassment. Then I laughed hysterically with my coworkers about my stupidity ?

Point of my too long post is that, often times we overthink the mistakes we make when others may think about it for 2 seconds, then go back to their own tasks and thinking about themselves. Just think of how much time you spend thinking about others after they say something stupid or make a mistake...you most likely move on directly after it happens. Just forgive yourself and learn to laugh at yourself. We have all done it.

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