I'm just curious about what you found scary or intimidating when you first started out? I'm preparing some info for new nurses and I want to make sure I address their needs.
What procedures were scary for you? Or what kind of situation?
I was always worried about making a med error and I had no clue how to get a nonfunctioning NGT to start working again. Chest tubes pulling out worried me. The worst would be pushing potassium instead of NS. We used to get single dose vials of KCl to mix with an IV. They had the same color cap and similar labeling as a vial of normal saline. I would check myself 10 times before flushing an IV.
Would you mind sharing those cheat sheets? It sound as if those could be a good learning tool for any newbie.
Thanks,
WG
I would be happy to share, but I don't know if they would be any good for people in other places. I work in an ER, and the cheat sheets are based directly on our facilities policy and procedure and department protocols. My facilities policies and protocols may not be the same as yours.
For instance, one of the cards is how to access and draw blood from a portacath. We have a specific kit that we use, plus a few other supplies, and the heparin flush. You would have to double check that your kit and heparin policy is the same as ours in order to use my cheat sheet.
What I recommend is to get copies of your facilities policies, and take the procedure for your cheat sheet directly from your own policy. That way you are acting in accordance with your facilities P& P and are legally covered.
Everbody's fears are really bringing back all the stuff that scared me. It's amazing to see how far we've all come, though. Yeesh! I really was clueless in the beginning.
This isn't a patient care fear, but I also used to be worried about dealing with some of the docs who were notorius for being difficult. One time one af the older attendings came into the nurse's station with a whole gagle of interns and residents and said, "Who's the nurse taking care of Mrs X?" We all just stood there afraid to answer because it looked like he was going to yell at someone. Then he said, "Well, I just wanted to thank her for taking care of her, etc.." We all breathed such a sigh of relief that all of us, the doctors and the nurses, started laughing. Whew.
noc_owl
53 Posts
I would be happy to share, but I don't know if they would be any good for people in other places. I work in an ER, and the cheat sheets are based directly on our facilities policy and procedure and department protocols. My facilities policies and protocols may not be the same as yours.
For instance, one of the cards is how to access and draw blood from a portacath. We have a specific kit that we use, plus a few other supplies, and the heparin flush. You would have to double check that your kit and heparin policy is the same as ours in order to use my cheat sheet.
What I recommend is to get copies of your facilities policies, and take the procedure for your cheat sheet directly from your own policy. That way you are acting in accordance with your facilities P& P and are legally covered.