passed out

[huladancer]

Last Friday was my second day on the NICU as a new nurse. One of the NP's was about to insert an umbilical line and my preceptor asked me if I wanted to watch. I'm standing there watching the NP who was having trouble getting the line in. The warmer is on and the lights are really bright. I start feeling really hot. So I took a step back. Then I see my preceptor walking towards me and I passed out. When I woke up, I was sitting in a rocking chair. My nurse asked if I ate breakfast and I told her I did. She gave me a drink of water and told me to go on a break. Well, I was pretty embarrassed, but the nurses in the room were great. My nurse educator came to check up on me and shared her "fainting" story with me.

I'm not really sure what happened. I don't get grossed out easily. I think it was the heat and the bright lights that got to me. Putting my embarrassing moment aside, I must say I'm really enjoying my orientation.

Any fainting/embarrassing stories you would like to share??

[Preemienurse23]

I almost passed out during my EMT-B rotation in the ER. I was watching a central line being put in with 4 other students, in a very small curtian area. I was right at the front, got hot, started seeing black and left the room. But I have packed very large abd wounds for a VAC and been fine.

I did catch a mom the other day before she fell and hit the wall.

[VivaRN]

In nursing school as part of our peds rotation we followed a pt from waiting room to OR to recovery. I woke up very early that morning as I had to be there around 5:30am. Did not eat breakfast. After being with the patient in the waiting room, stood through the surgery (cleft palate repair), and we were out in recovery... I was helping the RN assess the patient when suddenly I got that dizzy stars, oh I need to sit down, feeling. I immediately stopped what I was doing and said I need to take a break. NOW. The RN was looking puzzled but I took off for the locker room and barely made it. I sat on a footstool, ate some yogurt, drank, for maybe 20 minutes. I think the RN thought I was lazy (or eccentric, lol), but I was too embarassed to tell her what happened. I didn't completely understand myself as it had never happened before.

[2curlygirls]

When i was pregnant with my second, I almost passed out under a warmer during a C/S. Then a few days later, i amost passed out and barfed while admitting a very unstable 25 weeker.

A couple months after I got back from mat. leave (and working 12 hour shifts, on very little sleep) I got a migraine. I lost vision in my left eye and had temporary expressive aphasia. Everyone thought I was having a TIA of something so I got rushed to the ED via wheelchair for a CT. It was great

So no passing out per se, but lots of other unpleasantries at work.

[mgalloLPN]

I was on med/surg clinicals the other day and I was watching an IV start. The 1st nurse tried but couldn't get it so another nurse came in. She went so fast and was kinda moving the needle around. I started to feel really dizzy, hot, nauseous, my hearing started going, I started seeing black, so I told them I had to step out for a second. I have watched IVs before so I'm not sure what happened. I think it was the way the nurse did it. I have passed out 2 times before and had the exact same symptoms. Very scary. I SOOOO did not want to pass out again so I left the room.

[MA Nurse]

Those hot lights really get to me too, esp. when doing a lumbar puncture. I've almost passed out when assisting with that procedure, and I've been a nurse for a long time!