Went into lab and chose a folder that had the doctor's orders and the patient's MAR, then chose one of the dummies that I would be working with. I checked the MAR against the orders, got my meds and supplies, loaded up my med drawer, and went to the bedside table. Drew up the injections, got the right pills, and started interacting..."Hi Mrs. Smith, I'm Kendra and will be giving you your medication right now, can I get you to tell me your name and birthday?" Had to give subQ "insulin", IM "Demerol" in the ventrogluteal, and a PO dose of...something...forgot what it was (or actually what it was supposed to be...who knows what our practice drugs really are...LOL). Demonstrated how I would give the injections (didn't actually give them this time), talked how I would give the oral meds and make sure they were taken, then that was that. My lab instructor said I did an excellent job. :-)
Now I'm cleared to give PO, subQ, and IM meds. I can handle giving PO meds, and probably even subQ, since they're small doses. But when I have to give my first IM on a real person...hoo boy, I will be nervous. But, we all gotta start somewhere!
Thankful it's the weekend, thankful I had my day off today (so needed it)...and thankful for only 1 more week of classes before my spring break. Just gotta get through a Community exam on Monday and some major work on one of my group projects...and my regular weekly busywork.
But for now...I will enjoy my weekend!
Congratulations. Your right those first IM injections on patients are nerve-racking, but you'll do good.
ReplyDeleteI remember my first error in nursing school with medication administration, it was on a real patient and my classmate watched me do it and signed off. It was a PM blood pressure medication dose instead of her AM dose. All paper charting for medications ten years ago, so I admitted it right away to my instructor and was worried they would flunk me out. She said every nurse makes mistakes and if I had said nothing then she would have failed me.
YAY!!! Another hurdle down! You are doing great. :)
ReplyDeleteI had to give my SIL weekly IM injections. I was nervous probably the first three or four times but after that it got better. Wonder how different it will be on an actual patient in a clinical setting. Can't wait to hear about your first experience with it.
Wow girl, look at you! Good going on your big Meds Admin skills check off. I'm proud of you for getting through it successfully! One more obstacle done in your journey of school.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, love.
ReplyDeleteI remember giving my first IM shot. Demerol in the vastus lateralis on a post-partum patient. Scary but it went well. :)
I am so happy to see how great you are doing, Kendra. Keep up the great work. :)
Nice job. Another rite of passage down...
ReplyDeleteMy first IM was a morphine shot to a man that was in so much pain he had to have morphine, but when he found out it was in shot form tried to change his mind.
I got him anyway.