Mistakes at work (hospital setting)

[Arsenal123]

I am an newly (3 months) qualified health professional. I try my best to be very thorough at work and provide an excellent service to users however I have recently made a few mistakes which I have feared could have got me into trouble had I not managed to rectify them before they escalated. This has sometimes involved me coming to work on my days off.

Although I have managed to rectify them I feel there has not been enough training for me to be confident. Or if there has, I have not picked it up well enough.

Sometimes a patient is referred for treatment and what the referring Dr has written can easily be misinterpreted. I had an incident where they were not available to ask about what to do and I almost made a bad call. Since this have gone over the event in my head so many times and tried to improve my knowledge but a similar scenario almost happened again.

We are put under a lot of pressure to diagnose injuries without being Drs. While some people are fantastic at this, I need more practice and I am worried about making a mistake.

My relationship is really stressing me out, A couple of my colleagues can be quite two-faced and spread rumours, and I'm struggling to sleep with all that's going on.

I just feel so low ... I want to be the best I can be and I am trying so hard. I have my eyes on a promotion over the long term and hope it can be achieved - this would be even more responsibility though. Perhaps it would be best to walk away from a career I like a lot?

[sallysparrow157]

You've only been qualified 3 months, no one should be expecting you to work unsupported. You need to speak to your mentor/senior and clarify what you should do if the referring doctor has been unclear. You also need to tell them when mistakes have been made rather than trying to deal with all this yourself. There are clearly serious problems with the system if someone who's only been qualified 3 months is so unsupported, if you conceal things, not only will these problems not be recognised and remedied, if you do make a significant mistake that impacts on a patient or service user, you won't have a leg to stand on if it is identified that you've covered up previous problems rather than seeking support.

I know it's bloody hard in a new job when you don't feel supported but you have a responsibility to yourself and your patients to ensure that you're practising safely

[Arsenal123]

Thank you for your reply. I am going to make a list of areas that are potentially problematic and bring it up.

I want to discreetly bring up that colleagues should not be pressuring new people into making decisions or feeling bad about double checking.

[FadedRed]

As a newly qualified nurse you should be being mentored, not left to find your own way.
Nurses do NOT diagnose, unless they are experienced advance nurses who have have additional training.
You are being let down by your employers and you should not be so unsupported at this stage in your career.
Can you ask for a meeting with your manager to discuss this? Are you a member of the RCN or a union? Please ask them for advice and support before you make a serious error or get so stressed by this that you become vulnerable to ill-health.

[sallysparrow157]

No health care practitioner should ever feel like they can't speak up. And double (and triple and quadruple) checking should be standard in healthcare. You're being put in a difficult situation in what sounds like a dysfunctional department.

[CountryLovingGirl]

It sounds like you work in a typical NHS department - short staffed. This had major problems with training new staff as the staff that are present are usually too busy with their own tasks that they have insufficient time to support the junior members of staff.
I would speak to your line manager. You need good support at this stage in your career. It would be a shame if the NHS lost another young recruit.