The weekend that blew up

Published

I recently had a new nurse's worst nightmare. I was involved in two major errors back to back at the hospital where I worked. The first error involved the wrong IV fluid being bolused into a patient. Someone had the wrong fluid on the primary pump, the IV tubing was extra long and tangled and I never caught the error. The second error was a med error. The patient was vomiting and in respiratory distress and I missed that the patient was allergic to a certain medicine because my patient fact sheet said he had no known allergies. The hospital told me they no longer wanted me having direct patient care and they were giving me 3 weeks to find another position at the hospital that did not involve direct patient care or find another job elsewhere. I could not believe this had happened to me. I was always so careful in everything I did. I fortunately found work at a nursing home and I am now making more money and have far less stress. The residents are so sweet where I work. This error happened over two months ago and I still can't believe it happened. I'm glad I am no longer involved in hospital work because of the stress but it has made me doubt my skills. I was in grad school to become a clinical nurse specialist and I dropped out because I doubt if I will ever work in a hospital again. It's going to take a long time to get over this one.

Specializes in Day Surgery/Infusion/ED.

What I don't understand is if the hospital thought your mistakes were that serious, why did they give you three weeks to find another job? If they were that serious, you should have been terminated. My guess is they were looking for a way to get out of having to pay unemployment. In any case, it's probably best you're out of there. It doesn't sound like a good place for a new nurse.

I would agree with the previous advice to get some experience before deciding on further advancement. I wouldn't give up on hospital nursing, either. Don't stay in LTC because it's "safer" in your mind. Stay in it if you really love it, but hiding out will just make you unhappy in the long run.

(This in no way suggests that LTC is "easier" than hospital care; I just don't think the OP should decide she's not cut out for working in a hospital based on a bad experience.)

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I'm so glad you came through this okay. So many nurses get disillusioned and leave the field after a bad experience, never realizing that their bad experience gives them extra caution from then on. You've learned from your mistakes, and as a bonus you found a field that you love. Kudos to you for hanging in there. It takes talent to wade through manure and come out smelling like roses. :nurse:

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Specializes in Acute, Geriatrics.

My orientation was 6 weeks but I got it extended to 8 weeks. My preceptor felt I was ready to be on my own. From day one I felt overwhelmed each time I worked. I would have liked to have a longer orientation but 6 weeks was considered adequate. My confidence has taken another crash. The LTC facility I went to work for fired me after 3 months. They wanted me to take on some extra work and I told them I couldn't do it. I would have had to stay beyond the 13 hour shift I had already put in. During that 13 hour shift I was proably on my feet for at least 11 hours. As it turned out the extra work did get done by another nurse. 2 days later the DON called me and told me I was fired for being insubordinate. I was not permitted to give any defense at all. They didn't care that I was a hard worker, always on time, and I never called in sick like half the staff did. My first year in nursing has truly been a rocky one.

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Specializes in CVICU.

This story scares the bejeezus out of me, because I know it can happen to anybody (me!). We run our tails off trying to keep up with tasks under that extreme duress of too many patients. Even at home I toss in cayenne when I meant to use cardamom, and there's no stress there. I just hope my inevitible mistakes are small ones. God help us all.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

NewNurse51 - What are you doing now? Please step back and reassess these incidents (which I'm sure you've done many times). I have been a nurse for 14 years and have made med errors that by the grace of God, didn't harm anyone! They have been few and far between fortunately. I think that you realize that acute care is not what you want at this time. Have you considered home care, infusion care, clinic or telephone triage? I wish you the best. Not every type of nursing is right for every nurse. That's why there are options. Good luck.

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