vaccinia

Hi, I'm a new RN (received my license about a month ago) working on a surgical unit in a 228-bed hospital. My last night on orientation will be Wednesday and then I'll be on my own. I'm still struggling to adjust to it all-- at this point I am not sure if it was worth it. Being a nurse seems unbelievably demanding and exhausting, and I'm really not sure how long I will last on this unit. I also have four kids under ten at home. Anyway, AllNurses is a great source of comfort and information for me!! vaccinia

One more thing-- the pt did have IV fluids running (D5 1/2NS) at the time-- does that count as dilution?

Thank you so much for your responses. I will talk to my preceptor on Monday. I was very nervous about this pt. in general because he has a recent history of stealing from our hospital, and was recently released from jail. I felt pretty uncomfortable with the whole thing. My inexperience and worry about the situation clouded my judgment-- I have looked every other drug up in my 6 weeks of orientation so far. (So I think there's hope for me) Thanks again.

I'm a new RN working on a surgical floor. I'm still in orientation & working with an excellent, experienced preceptor. Yesterday we had a patient with a long history of IV drug abuse admitted. He had IV Ativan ordered, and over the course of the shift I gave him three 1 mg doses. As I was leaving, I noticed the next nurse preparing his Ativan by diluting it with NS. My preceptor had already gone, so I went home and looked it up (which of course I should have done before I ever ever gave it b/c I've never given IV Ativan before) and of course it says to dilute. I showed my preceptor all 3 doses (1/2 ml, obviously not diluted) before giving it each time and she watched me walk into the room with it. I gave the small amount very slowly (over 3 minutes) because it was viscous. Pt's IV line was still patent at the end of the day and he said the site was not painful. What should I do now?