New RN, how to save face

[ERN19]

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?

[Davey Do]

On 7/20/2019 at 2:55 AM, 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. ?

Even though it may have been imprudent of you to use the vernacular, Marla, isn't it refreshing when a patient understands that we are just human beings, subject to our quirks, and does not make a big deal of it?

[kyhoward1989]

I tend to dwell on things like this too. The one that sticks to mind is when I was a new CNA and a patient asked my nurse what a normal pH for a human was. Without thinking, for some weird reason I blurted out "7". I can still remember the look on my nurses face, and how dumb I felt. Fast forward 5 years and a degree later, I kinda laugh and kinda cringe on the thought of this encounter...

We all do it, just try to brush it off and move along.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

Give yourself a break, no big deal.