pajoopie1

?? what is MoM? Is this someone with an eating disorder?

I had this patient that was soooo stinky. Stinkiest I'd ever have. You could smell him from the door. And it was this REALLY weird smell. I had never smelled it before. On Saturday I told him he needed to bathe and told the NA. The pt stated he had bathed so she didn't bother to push it, of course. On Sunday I told him and the NA he had to bathe. He told me he had bathed. I said, "You may have, but you put the same pajamas back on. You smell bad. You need a bath and to take off the pajamas and put them in a bag and close the bag off and put on a fresh hospital gown." He said, Okay. And did it. So sometimes you really can tell these things to the patient! I also tell them things like, "No, you have to do that yourself." "no, I won't raise the head of the bed, you need to keep your hands working." etc. Btw, the NA figured out that it was the urine that smelled so bad. So we got a sample of it. It was the darkest, cloudiest, stinkiest urine I'd ever seen! mystery solved!

Whoa! Reading your second (or third?) post on this thread, I can see that you will be an awesome nurse because you will learn from your mistakes. The post shows maturity that some people NEVER gain, either professionally or personally. Good for you. Lindsay

Glad we helped. Keep your chin up. You'll do great! The fact that you care so much about your error PROVES without a doubt that you are, and will be, a great nurse!

I usually email the person, thank them for the opportunity to interview, and state that you would like "feeback on your interview" to help you in the future. Most people will only take the time to email you back one sentence but sometimes it can be valuable feedback. I didn't get a job for lack of "leadership experience." Based on who got the position, I'm pretty sure I know why I wasn't chosen, and that wasn't it. But hearing their comments can be somewhat subjective. Just take it with a grain of salt. It doesn't mean you're a bad nurse or won't get a job. It's just one person's opinion. nothing more, nothing less.

I agree with the other posters... We are all human. EVERYBODY makes mistakes. The nurse (or any other professional) that looks down on or talks bad about people who make mistakes is a liar and hypocrite. You are human. You will mess up. We all do it. We have lots of checks in place to try to prevent errors. But even the best of the best still make mistakes. I highly doubt you'll be fired, especially since you were honest about the errors. Do you have a mentor you can trust or a kind manager? Maybe you can ask for a little one on one to help you review your practice. Could you have a more effective report sheet? Would a double check of all orders at the end of your shift before you clock out help you make sure you didn't miss anything? And as much as we all hate the extra red tape, always do your med checks! Accuracy matters and you'll save time (and heartbreak) by slowing down and clearing your head right before administering a med. And always, always check the arm band of the patient. I'm not saying this to make you feel bad. Don't feel bad. You only proved that you are human. I have hung antibiotics on the wrong patient before. Of the two patients I mixed up, one was black and one was white and they weren't in the same room! Since then, I ALWAYS do at least two med checks (a lot of our patients are on contact isolation so you can't do a third bedside check) and I ALWAYS compare the bag of abx or whatever else it is to the patient's arm band. Oh, and I've also failed at least twice to split a med that was a 1/2 tab and gave the pt a double dose. Oh, and I have a good friend who gave a patient A WHOLE BOTTLE OF NITRO instead of one tab q5 minutes up to 3 doses! Thankfully none of these resulted in patient harm. And you have to think, of the number of errors that you realize, how many go unnoticed or unreported? There is always a chance of error, just remember to slow down and think before you act. Does the pt need this med? Is this med appropriate? Do I know what it does? Are their vital signs appropriate for this med? I also like to pause every even hour to review my report sheet, flip through my MARS, check my orders, and view the latest set of VS (we have e-charting). I even count on my fingers to make sure that I've checked on or thought about all five of my patients. [i'm paranoid I'll go a whole shift forgetting one of my patients!]It might feel like you don't have time for this... but you do. And it will save you a whole lot of time and heart break in the end. It will help you plan ahead and be more efficient. No need to cry, quit, or give up. Just focus on the things that you can change and improve to minimize errors. Keep your head up! Lindsay

So sorry that happened to you! What a crazy situation. I would call your state board and ask them if it is possible to "tag" a license or whatever. I'm not sure that's something they can do. Beyond that, I'm not sure what you should do but I'm guessing other, more experienced nurses might have more advice.

I agree with what's already been posted. Also, I would not mention the "tattling." If you say people "tattled" it makes it sound like you did something wrong and you wanted it covered up. I'm NOT saying that that is the case. But I'm just saying to a nurse manager's ears, complaining about tattling is a red flag. If you do decide to tell them about the "tattlers" I would not use that word. It sounds like you are admitting you were bad. And in some situations, tattling is the right thing to do. Again, not necessarily in this situation. But I have told the nurse manager when someone is doing something wrong. However, I always take it to the person first to give them a chance to improve before telling a manager. clearly that didn't happen here. If you must mention those people, you could say that they passed "false rumors" on or something like that... but again, I'd just leave them out of it completely. Say you didn't have the support you needed as a new grad and that you really want to be a great nurse so you are looking for an environment in which you can become a great nurse. You're willing to work hard, but you need support as you transition from new grad to proficient nurse. I agree that you needed support. I did med surge out of school and I got 12 weeks orientation. Six weeks in the ER sounds like it's WAY too little.

I agree with nursing spaz

I love computer-physician order entry. Studies show that it decreases med errors, for all the same reasons mentioned in other posts.

Thanks!

You just had to click on the "Medical Spanish to English..." link. But thanks for the feedback. I added directions at the bottom so that other people can easily see how to download the file. Thanks... let me know if there is anything you think should be added or changed.

I also work at a state hospital. More than 50% of our L & D patients are latinos. (I'm not an L&D nurse though. I am am in med-surge nursing). Not sure how attachments work but here's the link: http://bedpans.wordpress.com/free-medical-spanish-translation-card-for-nurses/

Hey guys, I was searching the internet for a Spanish to English translation sheet for nurses and patients to use. I couldn't find any so I made my own for our hospital. We are now using it on quite a few units. If you would like a copy of it, let me know. Thanks.

Glad to help.