mistakes.

Clinical was an enlightening experience today. I learned that regardless of how much education a nurse has, they can still make stupid judgement calls.

A patient was not given her proper medication during breakfast. My nurse and I figured an error had been made when the patient was acting way out of character an hour later. Eventually my nurse tracked down the source of error - the patient's primary nurse - and met with the charge nurse who was then required to call the doctor.

However, logic apparently does not accompany 4-year degrees. The charge nurse told us she was intimidated by the doctor and didn't want to call him - so she didn't. Instead, she reasoned that the medication would wear off eventually and that since death wasn't a likely outcome, the patient should just be left as is.

Even with my limited knowledge of medications, it was apparent to me that a simple order from the doctor could have fixed this mistake. A simple 5 minute phone call would have drastically improved the current condition of the patient, who is already suffering from a stroke and a mental disability. I know that the mess-up wasn't life threatening, however it was detrimental enough to cause a serious shift in personality. In my mind, that is serious.

However, being a first year nursing-student makes it tough to call people out on their mistakes. Our role in the hospital is to simply observe and help with basic tasks as needed. It's a tad frightening that our 'role models' pull stunts like this, especially when we are supposed to be learning from them.

D.