The one mistake every nurse shouldn’t make

So I know when you read the title all you could think about was ‘what is it??!’ Anyone who is a nurse or on their way to being a nurse can use this piece of advice!

We live in the world of life and death. I don’t think anyone will argue with me on that. We can have many levels of definition when we are asked what a ‘bad day’ really is. In the end, we shoulder a lot of responsibility caring for our patients, and we sure don’t want to make ‘that one mistake’.We’ve all made mistakes. I know I have. Some small, some great, some breath-taking, and some are quite comical. At the end of the day we are all human right? Aren’t we entitle to tripping up once in a while?

I think it has a lot to do with HOW we learned of our mistake sometimes that can determine how that mistake impacts us. In nursing school I remember a patient of mine having an IV site issue. The nurse caring for him did some adjustments to his IV site. While addressing the IV, she raised the bed up high enough to be close to waist-height (more than likely to lessen the strain on her back while troubleshooting). That particular day it was my big day to hang my first IV. I got to prime the tubing, lock it into the IV pump and then attach it to the patient (I think we all remember that first time). I was nervous as all get out. I had followed the steps prior to entering the room. I rehearsed them in my head before I approached the IV pump. I check and triple checked the tubing. Reviewed the 7 rights, etc., etc.

I successfully hung the med and had it infusing properly with no alarms and no messes! When I was getting read to leave the patients bedside, my nursing instructor asked if I forgot anything? Silently in my head I panicked and retraced all my steps four more times. Check, check, re-check.