Robin1990

hi all! Today I discharged a young healthy pt. I noticed their PIV had some residual blood in it a couple cm long. I think it was there for several hours. Before discharging the pt I needed to give an IV medication so I pulled back and had brisk blood return. For some reason I just flushed it all back in. I gave the pt the med and DC'd the IV and discharged them home. I am probably thinking too much about this - but would that residual clot potentially cause harm to the patient? I imagine any clot flushed through a peripheral line would dissipate in the capillaries. I know best practice would have been to draw back and discard the clot and the waste - I wish I had done that! My patient left with no harm seen, but I think I'm obsessing about this and would appreciate an objective perspective. Thank you!

Thank you for the perspectives! I have a feeling I might do better crafting my own routine and having to just fumble through things on my own as a couple of you said. I'm psyching myself up to leave for work in 2 hours for the first of my last two days on orientation. I guess all I can do is take it one day at a time and do my best. Thank you!!

Hi allnurses! I am one very tired new grad and I just need a little perspective! My background is that nursing is a career change for me. I did an accelerated program so I never had time to work as a CNA. I was hired onto a very busy Med-Surg unit that takes overflow from the hospital, so there is a huge variety of patients and so much to learn. My hospital does six week orientations. I just finished what should be the last day of my six weeks of orientation. While I'm certainly feeling a lot better than I did a few weeks ago, I've gotten consistent feedback that I need to work on time management. I'm trying really hard to focus in on that and I think it's getting better bit by bit...I think I just take too long in the patient's room. I think part of it is that I'm afraid of making a mistake so my perfectionist tendencies hold me back. Today the manager called me in for a quick meeting. It was a very supportive meeting, but she said through feedback from my preceptors they are going to give me two extra days of orientation and see where we're at after that. She said that I am very safe and have good clinical judgment, it's just time management that I need to work on. I know that I am going to get there....I am DETERMINED to get there, and I know that one day I'll be fast and efficient. I am just so weary and discouraged and frightened though. This past 6 weeks is the hardest thing I've ever had to do (besides nursing school hehe) and my unit works primarily 8 hr shifts so I'm there five days a week and I'm just emotionally and physically drained! I really despise feeling like I'm not good at my job...I'm giving it everything I have but I feel like I'm still not up to par. It's a little embarrassing to have the extra days, esp when my friends are doing so well comparatively....and on the other hand I feel like there's SO MUCH I don't know and I wish I had another month of orientation! I guess I'm just reaching out for perspective....have any of you had to have extra days? When did this start to feel a little better? Thanks for letting me pour my heart out :) I was thinking on the way home as I sobbed along to Christmas music that at least this job is worth it. There is so much purpose in nursing and for that I'm grateful and I know it's something worth working for.

Thank you so much for your comments! I am now 3 weeks into orientation, with 3 to go (6 weeks feels too short!). But my fear has abated a little. I think the vast sense of the unknown was really scaring me, but now that I've worked with PCAs, PCEAs, and forcing myself through my issues with IV's it's getting better. I have feedback from my preceptors that I'm a safe nurse and that I'm tracking mentally with what they're teaching so I'm learning to trust myself too. This is hard though!!! I can't wait until I have a year under my belt.Thanks again for the comments!

Hi allnurses! I am a new nurse, 2 weeks into my orientation on a very busy med-surg unit. I know this season can be very stressful for most people, so I'm trying to take it all in stride and take it one day at a time. But I am finding myself haunted by a nightmarish fear of making a mistake that will harm a patient. Particularly a med error, or in the area of IVs. I am not yet comfortable dealing with IV medications, and my unit has PCAs, TPN, central lines galore. My unit has been understaffed and I feel like I'm being pressed to be more independent than I feel safe being, and this in turn makes me shaky, distracted and fearful. I believe in my heart that it will get better, and I know that in order to be cured of the lurking fear/horror around the idea of harming a patient, I just need to keep going to work and learning and facing my fears....but do you have any tips for me? Is this normal? When does this terrible feeling start to go away?? Thank you so much allnurses! These threads helped me so much through nursing school.