Adebayo Emmanuel

Have you ever been in a nursing trouble before?, one you think might cost you the very license you’ve not even acquired?, as funny as it might seem, I think there’s a thin line between performing a nursing procedure, as a student nurse, and messing up. well, maybe because the fact of supervision makes it look as if a court’s judge is right on your nose, waiting for the tiniest mistake, and then bang bang! goes the gravel, found guilty. And those matrons don’t try at all, they could tell you your use of clinical thermometer is wrong, in your final year, lol, imagine!. It almost impossible for them not to find an error, but then I think some errors are too grave for you to commit, yeah, even as a student nurse, just like the one I committed in my 200level. You want to hear it? just don’t mock me, it might be a fiction after all.

So I was a transfer student, came from the department of physiology, and like you know the process of transfer takes a while, one which you might not even be sure to get admitted, I think it was one of my biggest risks ever. so the uncertainties surrounding the success of my transfer did not make me attend most nursing lectures, especially the practical classes, I was meant to write the practical exam regardless, and now the joy of my successful transfer was soon outlived by the fear of me passing the practical exam. Well, all of these are just excuses, rationalization. It’s not tangible reason for the grave error I committed, Now what’s the error?! Did I give a patient a death pill? No now, calm down, lol

So on the day of my first practical exam, one of my practical stations, station three, we were meant to give baby Jones a cough syrup, I swear I don’t know what happened, maybe the anxiety of OSCE, you know the 5min phenomenon, or maybe because of the highly revered Dr Lucy manning the station, or maybe I was too dull. but I’m sure who ever prepared that station knew what could easily taunt me, all I knew was that I saw a 5mls syringe lying conspicuously beside a jar of liquid medicine, that was now to be a cough syrup after I’d left the station. and yes you can guess what happened! I dipped the syringe to withdraw the content of the medicine… and gbam! I withdrew whatever reputation I thought I had with Dr Lucy, even my very pride. Let’s not delve into the psychological consequences of my mistake, but the moral of the story. The reason for practical exams is to challenge your capacities, decision making abilities. And don’t be worried if you made mistakes in those stations, you may not fail, but don’t fail to be trained and corrected not to make the same mistakes in real life situations.

“weird nursing stories” is an intended weekly series by NSPO. it promises to be fun, so keep tab. if you’d like to share your weird stories too, contact me.