Was told to consider not being a nurse?

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I'm a nursing student in my first semester and I'm at a LTC facility for clinical. About two weeks ago I was following a nurse by myself and I offered to help her as much as I possibly could. Later that day she let me do accuchecks and one patient needed insulin. We were told that we would have to be checked off by our instructor first and then we could give insulin with a nurse observing. This was my second time giving insulin. What happened was that I accidentally pricked myself with the needle when I was getting ready to inject it while I pinched the skin with my other hand. Before, I gave insulin in the back of the arm and I was told not to pinch the skin but this time I was giving it in the abdomen. I froze when it happened - I honestly didn't know what to do in that moment because I was so in shock. The nurse must not have been observant because she urged me to give it when I hesitated and in that moment I did. To only freak out right after. I immediately told the nurse what happened but I had already given it and I felt so stupid and was so mad at myself. Then my finger started bleeding a bit too which it didn't before right when I must have pricked it. I was devastated but the nurse told me to not tell anyone because she didn't want to file an incident report and she said the patient would be just fine. I immediately told my clinical instructor what happened and she was very sweet and said mistakes happen and we're just human but that she would have to tell my nursing instructor too (of my first semester of nursing school).

My instructor asked me what happened a few days later and I explained everything and told her that I was really sorry and felt incredibly stupid. She was extremely disappointed and said that they teach us to think critically for a reason and if I'm not confident and able enough to make decisions for myself and think critically then I should consider dropping out of nursing school. I have cried so many times after this happened and I really do feel incredibly stupid because it's common sense and I shouldn't have panicked and still given the injection but I never found myself in a situation like this before. I really thought my patient would die but he will be just fine. After what my instructor said to me though and the tone in which she said it makes me believe that I will never be a good nurse and now I'm at a point where I am doubting myself even more. I don't know what to do because I really want to help people but I don't want to endanger their lives.

Specializes in ER.

I was told that maybe I shouldn't become a nurse when I drew up insulin for the first time, and the needle bent as I was drawing it up. That instructor was terrible. My hands were shaking, and I was just stressed out from my mother's funeral the day before.

Since then I've heard of some best nurses being told the same.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

I've been told I shouldn't be a nurse, and here I am, 40 years later, still nursing. You made a mistake, then you panicked and made another mistake. But despite being advised by an experienced nurse to cover it up, you came forward and did the right thing. We need MORE nurses who will come forward and do the right thing and FEWER nurses who would cover things up.

Hopefully this will be your defining moment, where you realize that you DO have what it takes to be a nurse, and that honor and integrity are a big part of that. You had the confidence to do the RIGHT thing. That counts so much more than the impulse to cover things up.

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

If you delete it from your quoted portion, I will be happy to delete it from my post.

Not at all, Libby.

I just didn't want my "come to Jesus meeting" to sound disrespectful.

Specializes in ER.
Not at all, Libby.

I just didn't want my "come to Jesus meeting" to sound disrespectful.

I use that term frequently, I'm a Christian. It's just an expression meaning, someone in authority is going to finally have a meeting discussing with the person their bad behavior or deficiencies.

Specializes in LTC, Rehab.

You are not the first or only nurse (ok, you're still a student) who's accidentally stuck themselves with a needle. Do what I do whenever I make ANY type of mistake - needle, med, whatever - think about how and why it happened, and change what you do to keep it from happening again.

I, too, had been told that maybe I wouldnt cut it as a nurse... coincidentally, this was also in my very first semester and at an LTC, but it happened to be my clinical instructor who said it. As a student brand new to the art of nursing, its quite common to feel super nervous... as you feel the weight of all that newly crammed in knowledge suddenly on display - and under what seems like observation through a microscope.

Like you, I was also really nervous... in fact, I was so critical of everything I did that a snail could have carried out my duties faster than I did. And the instructor had no qualms about telling me that I was not cut out for the job for that reason. Fast forward to now, where I've been practicing on a busy med-surg floor for over a year... and its going wonderful!

There will be people who choose to maximize your mistakes or flaws along the way... but never let anyone tell you what you can or cannot be. Mistakes will happen. What is most important is that you learn from them. I can tell you that, to this day, every mistake I was "talked to" about in nursing school is a mistake that I never ever made again... maybe because of how traumatic each "scolding" seemed at the time. We are human and therefore not perfect (though sometimes perfection sure feels like the expectation during nursing school). It will get easier and you will get better with each passing day. Keep your head up and best wishes!

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I ALMOST gave a wrong antibiotic to a wrong patient in NS. I felt so sick I thought I would faint. Told my instructor. It did NOT get given; it was an "almost" caught by the primary nursing watching me. Thank goodness she was there.

This instructor did her level best to get me tossed out. Fortunately the director did not agree. And so, nearly 20 years later, I am a nurse. I never forgot that near-miss and learned from it.

I am concerned about the dirty needle; protocols exist we must follow. And I share the others' feelings that the nurse who wanted to keep quiet about it, is WRONG.

Learn from this; grow. You will get past it.

Hang in there.

Specializes in GENERAL.

OP: not to cause a coup d'etat but:

This nursing instructor sounds long on critical thinking concerning you and short on positive encouragement.

I'm not sure I can legitimately weigh-in on your problem with your clinical instuctor but all too often there's at least one insrtuctor that shouldn't be instructing anyone.

Her punitive appraoch to clinical critique is more akin to the medical model than the knider and gentler nursing approach. (so they say)

My instincts tell me she should have been a veterinary nurse but people can be cowed and dogs and cats bite.

...The nurse must not have been observant because she urged me to give it when I hesitated and in that moment I did. To only freak out right after. I immediately told the nurse what happened but I had already given it and I felt so stupid and was so mad at myself.

Your assigned nurse-instructor may or may not have noticed. Never, ever let anyone coerce you into doing something. Always harness your critical judgement. For example, if a doctor told you to administer something to a patient or perform a procedure would you do it automatically? Of course not. You would you question the request. Always consider these questions: Why am I being asked administer something to a patient or perform a procedure? Is this within my legal scope? Is it appropriate for the patient? Is it a delegated act; can it be delegated to me? If so, has it been properly delegated? Is there an order for this?

LISTEN. I understand the severity of the mistake, but try to be kind to yourself. Yes, what you did was wrong. You are human... learn from this. Do not repeat it. You are remorseful, that is a good sign of your conscience... a good trait for a Nurse to have. Grow stronger, more confident from this and remember that no matter what: patient safety always comes first!

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

You need to own it, but your mentors really messed up. Live and learn. Stick with it.

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

I got told that I wasn't good enough to be a nurse during my final semester of my BSN. Wasn't even for a clinical error - I just slept through my alarm one day and was late. Nursing instructors can be rough, man.

From the responses here, you may have noticed that the "you aren't cut out for this" tactic is a bit overused in nursing. You will be a fine nurse. You will learn from this mistake and be a better nurse for it. Keep going!

When you are in clinicals, you are working under another nurse's license. Not one, but two nurses brushed off the incident as nothing. And the third is telling you to drop out?? If anything, the two senior nurses should be held accountable. If they want you out of the program, they need to fail you, not tell you to drop out, that's ridiculous. But as a student nurse, I was also at the mercy of the nastiest people who never made me doubt myself or cry so much in my life.

Honestly, you should have been taught several times about bloodborne pathogens, and if you were aware you pricked yourself, you should not have given the injection. Unless you had a very virulent communicable disease, which I'm sure you'd be aware of, a fine insulin needle is unlikely to transfer it to the patient. In any case, I'm sure the patient is fine.

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