I found my patient lying in a pool of blood this morning.
I had repacked his wide, deep gunshot wound on his hip at 0100. I did vital signs at 0200 and didn't notice anything. I let him sleep until this morning to do vitals again and he was lying a pool of bright red blood. I guess I didn't pack the wound tight enough, or ruptured a vein during the dressing change. I just felt like such a bad nurse this morning, not having caught it sooner. The patient is fine, the doctors weren't even worried about it, they expected it to bleed alot, but I still can't help but feel like I should have known sooner. Its one mistake that won't happen again.
There's a two year old on our floor who lost his leg and both his parents to a suicide bomber. I want to adopt him.
Oh, sweetie ... it only means you're a good nurse who is also human. I am so proud of the work you're doing; it's not easy and most of us couldn't stomach what you see every day. Hang in there.
ReplyDelete