I wrote last week about the fact that I am now doing postpartum patients independently, without my preceptor.
Well, this week, I am off of orientation during baby catching as well. I caught my first baby by myself yesterday! And, it was the biggest newborn I've ever seen.
I was surely scared and nervous as anything... But that fear kept me focused.
Another good thing happened yesterday: I did 2 successful IVs in a row! I have done them in the past as a nursing student.... But working in Postpartum, I didn't have a lot of exposure to it. I did try, but it was unsuccessful. But, yesterday, I did it - twice.
It was quite the scene the first time I did it. My preceptor sent me into the room by myself with an IV pole and a basket full of IV supplies. I tried to appear confident - I didn't let on this would be my first successful IV as a registered nurse, If - in fact - I even succeeded!
Her veins weren't visible, either. SHOOT!! I thought. Then I put the tourniquet on and rubbed, flicked and slapped the back of her hand, hoping something would surface. It did! I could visualize 2 metacarpal veins. ok. So, I prepared my supplies (at least I thought I had) and I went for it. Success. I hit a vein. I got back flow, so I advanced the cath tip. Then I retracted the needle and then..... what? I didn't have the tubing ready. So this poor lady is bleeding out the cath I just put in her vein and I'm fumbling for the IV tubing!! It's just a good thing I put a chux under her arm before I began. In the end it was a bloody mess with an intact IV. Semi-successful.
My preceptor high fived me when I was done, then I was asked to start another one. I didn't want to push my luck, but knew I HAD to master this elusive skill, so I agreed.
This time I wanted to avoid the blood bath of a fiascal I had last time. So, I had EVERYTHING ready before I started. And, I hit a vein agian! There was barely a dribble of blood after this one. Whew. What a stressful event.
But, it certainly boosted my confidence a little.
It was a good day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Congrats! It took me a long time as an RN to gain confidence with IV starts. You should be happy you have healthy pregnant women to practice on instead of shriveled, dehydrated old people! Sounds like you're in a wonderful program and doing great.
Post a Comment