One More Strike and I'm Out. (Venting)

[gymnut]

Hi guys remember me? I'm the girl who fainted in the OR twice and started a whole thread about it. I got some awesome advice and everything has been going great! I just finished the 2nd semester with a 4.0 GPA and I'm really enjoying my clinical experience despite dealing with that "I have no idea what I'm doing." jitters all new people go through.

Well today it happened again. I was scrubbed in on a case and passing instruments and everything was going awesome. Then I felt that familiar heat start to creep up. I started taking nice deep slow breathes and tried to focus my attention on other things and even began doing thigh squeezes to get my blood moving some more but, then the fuzziness started in and I had to break scrub. I just went to sit down. All I needed was some water on my face and some OJ and I would have been good to go. But, since this is a hospital after all I was put in a wheel chair and wheeled to the break room and given the usual crackers and juice. At that point I just wanted to die from embarrassment. I asked to check my sugar because I read about reactive hypoglycemia but, they said they couldn't unless they went to the ER.

My instructor came in and said that since this was the third time it has happened to me that I really need to consider continuing on this career path and that she needs to talk to another OR instructor to find out what to do with me. Pretty much I have to get medical clearance before I can continue and if it happens again I have to leave the program.

She sent me home for the day and I immediately went to my doctor who sent me for every single type of blood work and urinalysis and I see a cardiologist on Wednesday.

I really sat and analyzed everything and realized I only ever felt faint on morning clinicals and not evening clinicals. I then realized before I go to bed every night I take amitriptyline (for help with pain from endometriosis), Lorazapam (anxiety and for my IBS Which it's pretty much gone!). When I have to get up really early I add Zaleplon. I had to get up early today and I worked until 11pm the night before. So yeah I'm 100% positive taking all of those meds and getting 4 hours of sleep is crap. But I have no idea how else to quickly go to sleep when I work until 11 and need to get up at 5am without medication.

I'm just so heartbroken and depressed right now. I've just been a crying mixed bag of emotions. It's just like why is my body doing this to me now? When I worked in a factory for 5 years it was under tougher conditions and I often stood in one spot for several hours and not so much as an eyelash fluttered from me. I really hope I can pull through this. I mean I'm done in July! I understand that if it's a medical condition I can't go on because that's not good for me or the patient. I guess I'm just so tired of fighting for everything and getting kicked in the orifice at the end.

PS Are our journals back up? I have a LOT to ramble on about.

[TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN]

I am sorry, but I'm confused. Are you in a nursing program or a surg tech program? I really don't see why you would be thrown out of a nursing program just because you MIGHT not be cut out for the OR. There are plenty of other fields of nursing that you can go into if the OR is not a good fit for you. If you're in a surg tech program then the sooner you find out what is going on with the fainting thing, the better.

[leslie :-D]

would it be helpful if you had a snack before going in the or?

what is your official dx, that causes these episodes?

leslie

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Can you decrease your dose of Lorazepam or other meds?

Can you discuss that you cannot short shift (ie go home at 2300, return in early am) with your instructor? Just tell her what you have discovered and see what can be done.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I agree that 4 hours of sleep is a factor, and perhaps not enough time between the med doses at night and getting up in the morning. I wouldn't give up without fixing those issues and trying again.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Wondering if you eat a full dinner ...at all. Then, do you eat a full breakfast?!

When I did OR in school, I knew that I tend to get super hungry about 11 am. So, I ate breakfast when I got up. Then as I walked in from the parking lot and into the building I ate a decent energy bar with juice. I did this so that I would have that xtra in the OR when I needed it. One other thing, are you drinking enough? You might be a little hypo on a lot of fronts if you are not eating and drinking well.

[Lynx25, LPN]

I used to get fuzzy and queasy in the heat and stink of the burn unit during dressing changes, if I didn't eat breakfast and lunch. Try eating something healthy, not too greasy- and see if it helps at all.

[gymnut]

We sat down today and hashed it all out. I am going to try and take as many evening clinicals as I can and not work late the night before I have day clinicals. I also printed out some good healthy breakfasts and plan on drinking lots of water and orange juice. I love those Bolthouse Farms drinks with all the protein.

My lorazapam is 1mg so I can try cutting that down and maybing spacing them a little apart. Perhaps take the Amyltriptaline 3 hours before bed, the lorazapam two hours before and obviously the sleeping pill just before bed. It's just going to have to be trial and error and I hope I'm able to have enough time.

Oh and what's even better is the place that drew my blood in October has no recollection of it or any test results despite me showing a receipt and my bill for it all. So now there's nothing to base anything off of. So now I'm dealing with all that nonsense.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

That sounds like a plan. Try to concentrate on the drinking on your "off hours" so that you can hydrate in a logical way.

Not too much close to your clinical (so you won't be crossing your legs and hopping around in surgery) If I don't want to HAVE TO PEE, I will make a concentrated attempt to hydrate in my off hours consistently so not to overdo it at any one time, and then pretty much stop 2 hours prior to a time when I won't be able to find a potty LOL. So, this way right when you get in to change in the locker room, the last thing you do before you go out to the OR, is pee.

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

I passed out twice in clinicals, once during a patient's labor in OB rotation, and once during a joint arthroscopy.

All that came of it was, " Gee, we surmise that Ortho surgery and OB are not for you."

Good luck, and stick up for yourself.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

We aren't allowed to work nights before we have clinical.

Hope you get it sorted out!

[fiveofpeep]

Good luck to a fellow XXer!