PBDS panic (long)

[km5v6r]

I have been a nurse for over 20 years. Most of that time in ICU. This past spring I left my acute dialysis position and took a position in PICU. The PICU manager and staff had been recruiting me for months when I was there doing treatments. During orientation I was hit with PBDS. There are no peds related PBDS so I did the adult ICU. The people administering the test kept assuring us we would all do just fine, people rarely fail, it's only used to fine tune your orientation etc. I failed. I failed in a major way. The test was horrible and unclear. After 20+ years of acute nursing I no longer think about every little step in the process. I was taught to never make a medical diagnosis. I have worked with physicians that you could not make a suggestion to. If a suggestion came from a nurse it was an automatic no. I argued with the educators and made my views very clear at the time. I realize it isn't supposed to affect your employment but it does influence the opinion/prejudice those that receive the results many times before even meeting the orientee. I was lucky in that I had worked beside my preceptor as a dialysis nurse for over 5 years. The staff was aware of my competancy. My initial PBDS results did nothing to change my orientation or the focus of my orientation. Now 6 months later I get a message from the nurse educator that I have to repeat the exam. I almost had my first panic attack on the spot. I don't have alot of confidence about a majority of my life but my nursing skills were one area I have always been certain of and comfortable with. That friggen thing was worse then boards. To have total strangers put in writing that my critical thinking skills are inadequate and unsatisfactory. I have given serious thought to quiting the job. I am not sure I want to put myself through the d&*% thing again. Any suggestions?

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

I tried to Google the initials and came up with thousands of hits. Not knowing what the full name is, I couldn't tell which, if any, were pertinent.

There is no need to google. If you use the "search" on this site (allnurses.com), and enter PBDS under search, you will come up with numerous lengthy threads here at allnurses.com