A patient arrived from OR with an ORIF of the L forearm. Patient was fine and I even educated him on compartment syndrome (which what makes this so troubling). He was complaining of some numbness in his fingers, but his cap refill was
His pain actually improved through the night, but the numbness continued so I finally called the Ortho MD. He said this sounds normal and he would pass it along. When the actual surgeon came in he was a little upset that I didn't inform him of the numbness; he said cap refill sluggishness is a late sign and means nothing.
When I left, was in the process of re-evaluating to see the next steps. Anyways, I feel crushed that my poor judgment didn't lead me to just call the MD. I always call the MD when I have the slightest concern, and I am very disturbed by the thought that I may have brought harm to my patient.
I probably deserve a shellacking here and I feel horrible. I know these things make us stronger nurses, but I feel like this lack of judgment has shaken my confidence.
In my previous knowledge, the main indicators of Compartment would be severe pain, pallor, loss of movement in the limb, poor circulation... how could I overlook numbness?
