The Top 10 Mistakes Made by New Nurses
Particularly, achieving perfection in a clinical setting is essential. Because you are dealing with someone’s life. Beginning your career as a nurse is like jumping into a deep end. Usually, nurses are dedicated to serving patients, but they also make some common mistakes. In this blog, you can easily explore the most common errors normally new nurses make. Fortunately, with the help of the eTutors blog, you can possibly minimize your chances of making mistakes. If you take some time to understand the common mistakes usually new nurses make. Additionally, you can identify how to avoid all these common errors in this blog. Moreover, grasping these pitfalls can support you to navigate your new nursing job with more passion and confidence.
- Improper Medication
New nurses make one of the biggest blunders is to give improper medication. for example, forgetting and providing double or triple doses at a time. On the other hand, without administering them, they provide the wrong medicine. Apart from that, without checking their due date and giving it to the patient. As you know, medication errors can be deadly; they usually occur due to nurses neglecting self-care. . If you don’t give some time to rest, you can easily burn out. So, keep in mind the old saying, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” It is compulsory to stay active and healthy. Furthermore, don’t rush if you have any uncertainties overlooking the chart or may ask a doctor for help while administering meds.
- Not Asking for Help
In today’s faced place in the healthcare setting, where the competition is so high. New nurses feel pressure to impart a strong impression in the clinical environment. In this regard, they may be nervous and hesitate to ask for help. As a result, they make many mistakes. Understand that asking for help is not to lose your reputation; instead, show your strength.
- Avoid Documentation
In the nursing profession, the most significant aspect is proper patient’s documentation. It might be boring, but it is essential to administer patients accurately. Most new nurses consider they remember all detailed information about the patient and avoid making a document. This can lead to some grief. Although “what’s written is remembered,” proper documentation will support you in providing effective care. Always take some time to make a concise file of all essential information about a patient.
- Poor communication skills
Strong communication skills play a significant role in nursing care. MOst new nurses believe their clinical information is enough, without communicating effectively. This can cause one of the major mistakes. Remember, always be clear and concise when interacting with patients. As it is known, “Better safe than sorry.” Don’t feel wavering to ask questions or repeat information.
- Taking Feedback Too Personally
Constructive suggestions are significant in all fields, particularly nursing. New nurses feel defensive and anxious while receiving any productive criticism. Keep in mind that these constrictive reviews are essential to helping you grow in a clinical setting. Accept all reviews because it provides you a chance to enhance your capabilities and competences to become an effective nurse.
- Failing to Prioritize Tasks
This is an additional rookie mistake that nurses normally make in the workplace. During clinical rotation, nurses face many challenges and are overwhelmed with how to tackle the situation smoothly. To minimize this error, you learn how to prioritize each patient quickly and effectively. And you’ll also understand how to deal with emergency tasks. Access situations accurately to understand what to do in such critical conditions.
- Calling Wrong Name Of Patient
Another mistake that nurses make is calling incorrect names. Fresh nurses who are a bit worried can often be unable to remember a patient’s name. Most nurses are good at face recognition, but calling the right name is challenging. So, monitor the patient attentively.
- Infection Problem
During clinical rotation, nurses help to reduce the risk of infections. But sometimes new nurses neglect infection issues, which lead to complications and future infections. Remember the following:
- Aseptic methods
- Cleaning and disinfection
- Standard precautions
- Understand techniques for infection prevention.
- Providing an Incomplete Report
You have already learned how to give effective nursing care, but in rush situations, nurses give incomplete reports. Instead of providing all details about the patient, as a result, they may skip essential information. Which leads to severe patient conditions. So, it is compulsory to add all significant information in the report to administer patients effectively.
- Treatment Issues
When a patient is discharged from the surgery room with many unlabeled tubes. Some of them need to be drained out. New nurses without recognizing the right and draining the wrong ones. Consequently, patients may suffer a lot. So, before taking any action, if there is any issue, don’t hesitate to ask a doctor for help.
Conclusion
Nursing is a demanding job; beginning as a new nurse may feel like a steep learning curve. However, minimizing the common error will help you to secure your position. Keep in mind that every nurse was once in your shoes, going through similar circumstances. Learn from your mistakes and improve your practical expertise as a nurse practitioner. However, you can become an exceptional and compassionate nurse with full passion and commitment. Welcome to the healthcare nursing profession, where you can face various challenges to learn and grow.
FAQs
The following common errors are often made by new nurses:
- Administering and medication error
- Incomplete report
- Infection risk
- Nursing negligence
- documentation error
Usually, making a mistake is not acceptable, but it’s normal for newbies. Nursing is a demanding career; to become an effective nurse and learn from your mistakes.
