Stupid things I did when I was a New Grad

pickledpepperRN · Apr 17, 2006

I was a new LVN when the RN asked me to go get a donut.

I went to the cafeteria!

TennRN2004 · Apr 18, 2006

I went over my list of medicines with my preceptor. We plainly discussed a SQ med and how to give it. I promptly went into the room and gave it IV with my other IV meds. :idea: I come back out and she asks me where I gave it and I say "in the peripheral IV with the other meds". I didn't even catch myself until she starts freaking out calling pharmacy to see if it can be given IV. Pt was okay, but after a med error report, I learned my lesson.

AmyB · Apr 18, 2006

Let's have fun with this one!
I showed up for work bright and early at 7am for a week before I figured out that the shift actually started at 6:45 am...

There's a nurse where I work that STILL does this!!! What makes me even more crazy is that she's been working with us for months now. :uhoh3:

burn out · Apr 18, 2006

Can I confess the sins of another. A new grad I received report from one morning told me that the patient had a tube feeding of pulmocare at 30cc/hr and she did not miss a single dose of it. Then I asked her why she didn't put it on the pump.

LuvToBeANurse · Apr 19, 2006

Can I confess the sins of another. A new grad I received report from one morning told me that the patient had a tube feeding of pulmocare at 30cc/hr and she did not miss a single dose of it. Then I asked her why she didn't put it on the pump.

OMG! That is hillarious!:roll

came in one morning and got report from a float nurse (NOT familiar with our unit) that pt came in during the night w/ acute renal failure. Apparently doc had ordered a KUB on admit. with no secretary on nights, the nurse couldn't "find" the order in the computer and put a note on the chart for the doc that- that test was not done "at this hospital" (!!!) So, worried, I put in for the KUB stat and anxiously awaited the results- sure it was going to show some horrible blockage or something. The report was back and- oh no, it said the bladder "appears to be collapsed" (!!!!) I looked at my charge nurse and said, "OMG, this pt's bladder is collapsed!" She just looked at me funny and said, that just means it's empty crackhead!:chair:

Oh well, disaster averted, live and learn. Lesson I learned... learn how to interperet radiology reports before opening your mouth!

(By the way, crackhead had come to be a term of endearment on our unit:lol2: Just so no one is offended)

LCRN · Apr 21, 2006

I received report from a new grad in the unit and it was incredibly thorough, she went overr system by system and I was impressed. Then she told me that patient had to receive gentamycin and she hung it at 6am. Well at 8 am I go in to check a glucose level and it's 11!!! I immediately do another in disbelief and then go to the chart to see what the last glucose was. The repeat test was 17 and at 4am the glucose was 151 and the patient received 5 units. I was puzzled until 10am when I had to hang cefepime piggyback and realized that there was an insulin gtt that was hanging already infused in my secondary line. The first 6 hours of my shift I chased D50 amps including changing IVF.

OOPS...she'll never do that again.

millkay · Apr 22, 2006

I was still on orientation when we had a patient's heart stop. My preceptor asked the charge nurse to call a code and went to get the cart. I jumped upon this patient, who by the way was on a fluffy air overlay mattress, and started trying to do chest compressions. :uhoh21: The code team came in a couple of minutes later and started bagging the patient, deflated the bed, put pads on him, then started over. :trout: They said they could take over from here. No one ever said anything derogatory to me or even told me I what should've done instead. I knew there was something missing in the ACLS steps. Live and learn, I guess. The next time I was much better prepared to respond.

kenesha212002 · Apr 23, 2006

My preceptor was showing me how to give medications through a button peg tube. We were giving Tylenol elixir and the medication wouldn't go in. My preceptor told me to push some of the air out of the syringe. Well....I did and I pointed the syringe upward so that I could push the air out and the elixir flew up and was stuck to the ceiling. The patient was unconscious so he did not see what happened. My preceptor started laughing non stop. I felt so bad. She turn to me (still laughing of course) and said that you will never beleive some of the crazy and silly things she has done while caring for patients. The only difference she said was that I just had a witness to my embarassment.

It happens to the best of us!

mysticalwaters1 · Apr 23, 2006

My first year in nursing a pt needed a ct of chest with contrast. So it had been an hour or 2 and I call ct scan asking where the po contrast was so I could administer it for the test!!! AS I said this right at the end of the sentence I start cracking up on the phone!!! I said oh I'm so sorry that's pathetic and hung up!!! Oops!