jamieRN

I worked as a GN doing the work of an RN and getting RN salary while being supervised by a preceptor. If I hadn't passed the NCLEX I would have gone back to being a nurse tech and having nurse tech salary until I passed. -Jamie

Gilda, I'm so sorry this has happened to you, and I really think what you're feeling right now is not symptoms of Hepatitis C (if you are even infected). Stress can make you feel bad, and it's probably just psychosomatic right now. The CDC says that the chance of getting infected from a needlestick from a Hep C+ person is 1.8%. Take a deep breath (I know it's hard) and just get tested as soon as possible. The statistics are in your favor. -Jamie

Gilda, I'm so sorry this has happened to you, and I really think what you're feeling right now is not symptoms of Hepatitis C (if you are even infected). Stress can make you feel bad, and it's probably just psychosomatic right now. The CDC says that the chance of getting infected from a needlestick from a Hep C+ person is 1.8%. Take a deep breath (I know it's hard) and just get tested as soon as possible. The statistics are in your favor. -Jamie

Hi again, I know all I do is vent, and I'm sorry about that. Today I left work early crying. From my other threads, I know it's obvious that I'm not "comfortable" yet as a nurse. It's gotten alot better, but I don't have the confidence I would like to have. Abough 2 weeks ago I had a patient - middle aged male that had came from out of state for a procedure. He was a pretty nice guy and was going to radiology that day because of suspected tumors in his abdomen. I recieved report from the nurse in radiology right before he came back and shortly after a woman showed up at the nurses station wanting to know what happened in radiology. She said she was his wife, but being cautious due to HIPPA, I asked another nurse quietly away from the woman whether I could tell her what I was told in report. The nurse said it was fine so I told the woman what I was given in report. I admit I was in a hurry but I took time to talk to her and tell her what I knew (which wasn't much). She said, "Oh ok, thank you" and walked off. About 3pm, the charge nurse informed me that I would be canceled due to low census and needed to wrap everything up and give report on my patients. I went back to check on the patient, but the patient looked anxious. I asked him if something was wrong and he said, "I just get this way sometimes. My blood pressure must be sky high." I decided to get a set of vitals. All were normal except his blood pressure was extremely high. The doctor had not ordered anything for him for blood pressure and the chart was being reviewed by the pharmacist. I went back to the patient's room and the wife said, "Can you move the IV pole to the other side of the bed? It's in his way here." I said sure and moved the IV pole and the vitals machine to the other side of the bed. The lines though got pretty tangled, so I tried my best to fix it so he would be comfortable. I knew he needed something for blood pressure soon though so I was trying my best to get him comfortable so I could get the chart (hopefully) and call the doctor. I ended up calling the doctor after getting the lines untangled and the doctor said he would be up to see the patient. I reported off to the nurse taking my patients and left. Today, my charge nurse called me into her office and said that the wife of the patient requested that I not be their nurse anymore. That I had been rude, rough with the patient, and that she liked all the other nurses except for me. I had no idea she felt this way, and she had given me no incliniation they had a problem with the care I was giving them. It really hurt my feelings so badly and my nurse manager was very stern about it saying that I "need to think about how I treat my patients." Lately, I have recieved several notes from patients saying how much they appreciated the care I gave them. I have not had any other complaints from patients and I try my hardest to take care of them. It just hurt so bad that one of them felt so strongly about me and that my nurse manager didn't listen to me. I just went into the nurses lounge and cried, and several of the nurses plus the charge nurse were very understanding and supportive of me. I just feel like not going back - like I'm on the bad nurse list now. I just want to be a good nurse and have confidence in myself. Thanks for letting me vent, Jamie

I'm not flaming anyone, and I do agree needle sticks can be dangerous. However, the chance of a contracting a life altering disease from one needle stick is very low. Yes, there's a chance but it's not as dramatic as I think it's made out to be sometimes. To the orginal poster, accidents happen and if the patient moved suddenly I can completely see how an accident would have happened. Hope you didn't bottom out on your blood sugar though lol.

Thanks so much for the advice. I do hope with time it rolls off my back a little better.

Hi, I just wondered if some experienced nurses could give me some tips on how to handle this. I work on regular med-surg floor, and this weekend I worked 3 12hr. shifts. It seemed like the majority of my patients all 3 days were s/p MVA with ETOH intox. Now, I am a very understanding person, in my opinion, and I know the importance of being professional and nonjudgemental. I try to give the best care I can regardless. But... after the 2nd day of getting admit after admit after admit with the same scenerio, God help me, deep down I was getting irritated. I gave them the very best care I could and kept all my thoughts to myself. I didn't even talk about my feelings with my coworkers. It just irritated me deep down that someone would intentionally drive intoxicated and injure themselves and others like that. A few of them were fathers and husbands with a family, and I couldn't help but be appalled at their total disregard for their responsibilities. Maybe if it had been just one it wouldn't have bothered me so bad, but at one point I had 2 patients at one time on alcohol drips and a couple more with rib fractures and closed head injuries all with high BAC on admission. I honestly hope noone reading this feel offended or thinks badly of me. I just wanted to get this frustration out and hopefully get some advice on how to handle it. Thanks.

Hi everyone, First of all, thanks so much for answering my last thread and easing my mind a little. I've been doing pretty well up until yesterday. Ok so here's what happened: I had a patient that I was taking care of and a doctor called asking for a lab result on this patient. I was really busy but I took the phone call. The doctor identified herself and I assumed (big mistake) she was one of the doctors taking care of this patient. So, I gave the information out to her. Now, we have teams of doctors that call all the time and private doctors that do as well. There are tons of them and being new I don't know all of their names yet. I didn't think anything of it though at the time - just thought it was a private doctor calling about their patient. Come to find out this was a doctor that called but not one that was directly involved in the care of the patient. It was a doctor from a rehab facility that the patient had been at prior to comming to the hospital. The charge nurse and I talked about it, and she told me to learn from the mistake and that it would be ok. I feel so bad though, and so scared this mistake will come back to haunt me. I honestly did not mean to violate HIPPA, and looking back I can't believe how stupid I was. I'm usually very very very cautious before disclosing any information about a patient. I check the chart for a password and ect. I guess because it was a doctor (I'm know I'm sounding naive) that I felt at the time it was ok. Looking back I know I should have been more careful and investigated it more. Sorry I guess I just have to get this off my chest. Thanks, Jamie

Thanks for the encouragement and advice! I really appreciate the kind words. -Jamie

I had the same fear about starting one!! My preceptor taught me a good trick to use though and it worked really well. She said instead of speading the labia with your fingers, take the back side of your hand and gently push the labia majora up. It worked pretty well and the betadine was a good trick too. It's sort of hard to explain in words the technique she showed me, but that's the best I can explain it. I got it on the first try using that though. Another instructor of mine also said to take 2 catheters in the room, and if by chance you get one in the lady parts instead of the urethra leave it there so you have a reference point and try to get the urethra with another catheter. Anyways, you'll get it.

Hi, My name is Jamie and I just graduated from nursing school this past August. I recently just took RN boards and passed. I graduated with a BSN and am currently working on a Medical/Surgical unit. To be honest, I'm really really feeling overwhelmed as a new nurse and so paranoid of doing something wrong. I made good grades in nursing school, and I know the knowledge is there - just not the experience. I go home and night and stress about if I did this right for this patient, if I should have done something more, if I shouldn't have done something I did, and ect.. I'm driving my fiance and myself nuts I think (lol). Sorry to introduce myself and off the bat ask for advice, but this seems like a very supportive forum. I had one patient this weekend that came back post-op (40yr. female, alert/oriented) and was shivering excessively but was afebrile. The OR nurse said she had shivered alot in the OR too. She was visibly and audibly shivering so badly it was increasing her pain level and making her uncomfortable. I put 2 thin blankets over her and turned the thermostat up to 70 (was on 65). I checked on her frequently but when the aid came in to do vitals her temp was 102. She was otherwise asymptomatic. I immediately took the blankets off and tried interventions to cool her down. I just felt so bad all weekend long thinking I caused her temperature to raise that high. Somedays I feel like I'm doing good as a nurse and other days I feel so incompetent and so guilty. To my knowlege I haven't made any other major mistakes, but is it normal to worry like this constantly? I want to be a good nurse so bad, and I'm so afraid I'm not measuring up. Thanks for letting me vent though. I really needed to get it off my chest. -Jamie