these are the videos nursing students and nurses need on RU-vid. Way to be brave enough to share your mistakes. I for one found this video inspiring and I can tell you are one of those great nurses who makes a mistake and then becomes a better nurse for it. It sounds like no one was seriously injured in anyway. Don't beat yourself up! Thanks for sharing Ashley! It happens every nurse there ever was and if someone says they haven't made a mistake as a nurse they are lieing!
Watching this while trying to mend my self after being yelled at today by a doctor for not being diligent enough. I’m a senior nursing student. Sigh. Sometimes it’s hard to forgive yourself especially over very small things.
Hi Ashley, Old guy here--been a nurse for 46 years, taught nursing for more than 20. I love your vids---and think that you are what nursing needs. Keep it up, and remind yourself that you can only be kind to others if you are first kind (and patient, very patient) and forgiving to yourself. Your critical reflection is just the right thing to do, in my opinion. --Jerry Carley
I've been a staff nurse for about 4 years now. I carry a massive chip on my shoulder everyday. I'm very ashamed to call myself a nurse. I've made mistakes in my career and I struggle to forgive myself and move on. I feel like I can't show people I have improved and my colleagues will not trust me. I've got to the point where I hate myself and I do not see myself as a good nurse at all. I have become depressed and anxious about this now. I do not look forward going to my job and I constantly think of work when I'm home and worry if my boss will tell me the next day I have done something wrong.
I am very sorry you are struggling with this. So many people struggle with the same things you are, but yet no one reaches out/talks about it. I hope you are able to speak with someone to find solace.
You may be surrounded by toxic people. If you are feeling bad about yourself perhaps it isn't just you, but the environment and the people you are surrounded by. I don't know it could be you need a vacation.
Fine Nane I can feel the struggle you're feeling then. I'm also in that kind of situation which I thought I can still handle and go through. It's hard that by a single mistake you did, all the good things that you did went astray. You are judged, belittled and looked with sharp hawk eyes. Terrible! But after kept on trying and proving yourself again, I decided to love myself and help myself out. I resigned. Not that because I really can't handle it anymore or that I accepted that Im a nuts who really doesn't deserve to work there anymore. I did resign because I gave myself a chance to move forward and start a clean slate, I gave myself a shot to use that negative situation as learning process which will make me a better nurse, turning it into a positive point. I am currently looking for a new workplace and I hope God will give me this second chance to start a new. I hope you can forgive yourself too and give yourself a shot to move forward. God bless!😊
The amount of care you have for your patients is very moving and reminds me of a nurse I had during a tramatic night at 7 months pregnant, who came back to visit after her shift was over to let me know she had been thinking about me all night and has to come back to work to make sure I was on the mend. You may never see some of your patients again, but depending how you genuinely care for them during their time of vulnerability, they will never forget you and what you did for them.
I’m not a nurse. But you’ll get through it! I’m a dental assistant and have been in the field for over a year and I have definitely have made so many mistakes! I’m shocked I didn’t get let go.
@@puterinursyafiqah5790 alert? I learned from working 2 years. Make sure you have or develop a routine. When you're not used to a routine yet, have a check list of important things to be done. Btw I'm doing fine after 2 years. I'm working the same unit and have adjusted and take roles of charge nurse at times. 🥰
@@Bavarian.Donuts where are you from? I am from Malaysia.. can we Follow each other on fb and ig ? It feels good to have others who are very supportive in nursing. My Ig is puterinursyafiqah99 and fb Puteri Nur Syafiqah.. 😆🖐️😁
Nursing is continues learning process regardless of how long you've been a nurse, what's important is what you've learned from that experience and own your mistakes
As the spouse of a chronically ill person with lengthy hospitalizations, I have ZERO patience for mistakes such as these. The antibiotic “mistake” could have killed him and the “accident” that resulted in re accessing a port is inexcusable.
The first really mistake I just made the other day was during a stressful shift and I went to go give my patient an oxy, and completely forgot to scan the med in and still gave it to them. I went back later to see when I gave it to know when he could have the pain pill next and it stated I never gave it. I told me charge nurse and supervisior and was so embarrassed I made such a stupid mistake. I'm surprised I didn't get fired or in trouble. I guess the humility of it all was enough.
This is a very honest video Ashley, all nurses and nursing students should see it. I am going to show it to my nursing students this coming week, thank you.
You are human. I really needed to watch something like this. I've been at a nursing home for 2 and a half months now and still make stupid little mistakes. It's my first nursing job but I feel as stressed as you do. You are brave for continuing on and I hope you do because behind your fear is passion and that is absolutely admirable.
Same, mistakes with narcotics also make me want to quit. I've forgot to scan one in before and also messed up a count one time. I think the pressure and busyness of the shift gets to you. I always feel like puking when I make a mistake
@@abbygriffin3218, I to have made a mistake with narcotics, it is so depressing . I don't want to go to work and deal with narcotics or count them with the leaving nurse. So much room for errors and mistakes.
I made the same mistake about the antibiotic bag but my preceptor caught on fast,i felt so dumb and down that day. I felt so confident hanging in and thought I did what was right. You are so humble and inspiring.
Not a clinical mistake per se, but I'll never forget being told about a nurse who lost a set of rosary beads of a nun, which has been given to her by the pope.
I am a medical assistant and did plenty mistakes during my internship and felt so disappointed of my self and i do understand how u feel thanks for sharing
New nurse, been working 3 months on a LTC unit, and I have so many distractions during my shifts. Recently I made a med error because I was preparing 2 res meds at one time. I labeled the cups to remind myself which meds are whose. Anyways, ended up giving the wrong meds because I was distracted got pulled away and then came back to my cart. I left that night with so much guilt. But I immediately double checked what I did wrong, and notified my RN supervisor right away. Luckily to harm came to the Res. But it made me really re consider the type of environment I have to work in and how much focus I really need to prevent that type of mistake.
Hi, new nurse here, I had a client declining who eventually needed to be discharged to another facility and I was on the shift when he first started to decline. The first thing I did was take his vitals and I did about 20 other things for him and his only abnormal vital was his o2 sats. I charted the abnormal vital but none of the others. Of course now because I didn't chart it people thought I didn't take the vitals which would be a very stupid mistake. I did of course do that but it wasn't in the chart. I feel dumb. I feel stupid. Now I'm worried no one will trust me on shift anymore.
I did the exact same thing. No need to make a big deal out of it. I remember another mistake I made where I hung an IV antibiotic for a patient. I forgot to check the expiration date before hanging because I was falling behind in my work and I was in a hurry. It turned out that the antibiotic was expired. The unit manager saw it and told the DON and I was fired on the spot. The DON also said there were many medication errors, which I did not do but she still blamed me for it anyway. It does not always work out to one's benefit to confess your mistakes. That is why alot of nurses cover up their mistakes. It was a great video none the less.
+Chesley Ramos I was able to find another job afterwards but it was not easy. It took me several months to find another job. It was a difficult time for me.
+Wendy Demas Wow, at least you found another place to work. I'm about to start nursing school and I just feel weary about the administrative portion of nursing.
Wendy Demas How long were you with that employer for, and did have to talk about it in your interviews with other potential employers after? If so, how did you address the incident?
Thank you for this!!! I just finished my first semester and at clinical when I'm doing things for the first time I'm always terrified I'm going to make a mistake or mess up!
Thank you for sharing your experience and making me feel relief. For me I am a new hired nurse, i did a silly mistake, my preceptor prepared a med (iv push route) and told me to take another iv bag (different antibiotic infusion), I understood mistakenly to add this med into the bag, i felt so dumb and stressed the whole day. But i will never forget this med that it is given through iv push only, be careful about labels, and always try to double check
Even though I don't work in health care or nursing, i can relate to your story. I recently made a mistake whereby I used the wrong account to post a paid advertisement for a client online, and it has since been in arrears. I have a nasty habit of dwelling on mistakes and it really got to me. I now know not to use that account for posting in future.
I had a nurse say to me " we don't have to critically think", when I stopped her from administrating a medication that would have tanked my husband blood pressure, it was already low at 82/50, I told her to just be careful and double check her meds, but after her response I change my mind and asked for an incident report to be written and told her to not come near my husband again, I never left his side for 4 days, her reaponse was so flippant, and dangerous and disgusting, we all have stories like this , it is damn Scary, nursing schools are doing a terrible job of weaning out the people that should never be in a position where they can hurt someone
THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your experiences with us. We ALL wanna know that people are human and make mistakes. I'm afraid of doing that as a nurse when I'm done with school. It's scary!!
what he said is so true. been there done that. bottom line is SPEAK UP!! my biggie was doing RSI. Had my succs and etomodate drawn up. accidently gave the suucs first before the etomodate. doc wasn't quite ready to intubate. yep paralyzed him without sedating him. BAD BAD BAD!! I spoke up as soon as I realized what happened...about 10 seconds after I pushed the drug. The doc was a little irritated with me but everything turned out ok. i hate to imagine if I hadnt said "hey doc....I mustve pushed the succs first...hes already stopped respirations. we need to intubate NOW!"
I'm not yet a nurse (I'm applying to nursing school now) but as a CNA we even make mistakes that can be scary. I have popped out a patient's PEG tube when rolling them and I was really scared what the nurse would say. As it turns out, that was a common problem with the patient and they were scheduled to have an operation on the PEG. It just wasn't my unit so I didn't know that.
Paige Frantz I had a CNA come to me to tell me, the nurse, that she accidentally pulled the pt's tube out. She looked so scared, of course for the patient, but scared to tell me too. I think I felt more bad for her than the patient, because he was fine. I did my best to reassure her that the pt was ok, and that she was not in trouble.
I know this is nearly 6 years later but these videos help me a great deal. I'm studying Nursing right now to be an Enrolled Nurse (Bachelors) and without any real proper Nursing experience it's hard to know but this will help me be more calm and prepared and hopefully make less mistakes.
Do you have any advice for new grad nurses on how to be confident to actually be "on your own" to take care of a patient once your "orientation/preceptorship" is completed? I am a new grad and will start working in the hospital soon and I worry that what I learned in nursing school... Will just not click when I am put in certain situations. For example, when to know what and when to report to a doctor. I understand you need to assess the patient (of course, LOL), but I think it's my nerves of just "being on my own" is what frightens me. I am just so accustomed to being a nursing student and being told what to do rather than actually BE ON MY OWN. :/ Thanks!
It is always a scary feeling being on your own, but when you get to that time...somehow you just do it! You learn that you are NEVER alone and that you can always ask questions!
I aplaude you for sharing this. am a new grad in my first month, I recently encounter in my shift an antibiotic plug in the bag but not mixed . Things happened ....
thank you so much I love your videos and your personality you seem like an honest person, making mistakes is something that I always worry about and it doesn't help that I get extra nervous. can you do a video on how to manage your nerves when you do something for the first time at school for instance drawing blood, or injection I always get nervous and my heart starts palpitating so fast maybe I'm going for the wrong field! :\
Thank you so so much for sharing your experiences. It actually gave me a feeling of such relief bc making an error is what I am deathly terrified of. Again, thank you!!!
I appreciate your honesty in all of your videos! It helps novice nurses learn and also gives a confidence in realizing that we are human and we all make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn about them and share it with others to help them learn! Thank you Ashley! Love your videos, you are so inspiring!
Thank you for this Ashley. You are very brave to come forward about those mistakes. It's a scary thought knowing you made a mistake or that you could make a mistake in the future. I'm sure a lot of ppl and nurses feel the same way, but we are human and you did something about it as soon as you knew. We just have to be careful and learn from them. We need more honest and caring nurses like you!! 💗
Nurses and doctors make mistakes you're right. But the reason people look at you different. They look at you as a higher standard. because you work in the place of healing ,so when you make mistakes as you say people die, so you can say it is different. Most people and their jobs its routine. They just do the same thing every day, and the most almost like unconscious doing the same thing Every day. I think a nurse and a doctor. Everybody in there should look at themselves like it’s the first day they’ve been to work for the first week every day only because when you do something new you double check you don’t cut corners. Just something safe if that makes sense. but I think doctors and nurses do a great job without them we would be in trouble .
i love your videos! and thank yoy for what you do. i am not a nurse, at least not yet. My grandma was a nurse and i would love to become a nurse as well, as soon as my son is old enough to start school i plan on beggining my nurse degree. but good for you, you accomplished soo much and surviving nursing school is TOUGH!
Why do you notify the pharmacy (not a US nurse so this sounded strange) about forgetting to give a med? - If I make a mistake i fill out an incident report and depending on the mistake, notify the physician and follow their recommendations.
Your decency and caring make you a good nurse. Your self-awareness and Cicero possibility make you a good nurse. For your sake and if I were your patient couldn't you request extra training or someone to supervise you a certain time. Maybe morning is your best time and you get kind of weary during the afternoon. that would be our best advice. Thank you for admitting that. And try to see if someone can you just like an extra supervision or help during certain times when you need a break but can't take it 😊🤔
Agh, I have a question. I'm a student in an allied healthcare field and am about to finish up my first semester of clinical. I've not made big mistakes as it pertains to patient care, but I've definitely been learning that there are so many ways you can mess up, even being completely well intended through your actions. I won't be specific, but someone fairly high up in my dept has threatened my clinical seat because of these mis-steps I make along the way, and it makes me scared to take the chances to learn how to be a great clinician that my clinical seat offers me because I'm scared of making mistakes. I should say that the students in my program have made similar mistakes in their rotation but have not had their seat threatened. This has been probably the biggest cause of my anxiety through out my healthcare program. How do I walk the fine line between learning and making those inevitable mistakes, and NOT getting apparently kicked out of my program? I feel like my anxiety is getting in the way of my education. :(
+dolcemydear That is a tough balance! The best we can do is learn from our mistakes, and be extra careful in the future. Show your clinicians that you are paying close attention to details...and prove to them that you are meticulous!
Hi hunn, I felt bad for you making mistakes. I know you must have felt even worse. But I do appreciate you owning up to it. I'm taking my Hesi test in about three weeks. I can't wait to become a nurse. I love watching your videos and Nurse murse' s videos. You guys give me hope and insight on thing that I am looking forward to do in my life. Good luck in your career and wish me well PLEASE... :)
I made two big mistakes during placement and came very close to quitting nursing but then luckily, I got another chance to repeat the semester. I feel so guilty and suspicious of my knowledge tho I know that I know more than the mandatory. :) I got no one I the field to talk about the incidents. I still feel so upset and question myself if mistakes are forgiven. :( Now I like check it multi times before doing any tasks.
If your going to work this hard you would do better starting your own business! Being self independent is a world of true self satisfaction! Nursing sounds like slave work.