My facility only uses butterflies/winged collection sets and recently semi-switched over to the brand in the first image (BD Vacutainer Winged Collection Kit) after only using the ones in the second image (ICUMedical Saf-T Wing).
I hate the BDs! 😭 They feel so cheap and I think the needle itself is shorter.
So, I just started at a hospital in the beginning June (technically started towards the end of may, but the first week was all video modules about the workplace policies and all that), and within ~2 weeks, my supervisor had decided that I’m ready to hold down one of our outpatient labs on my own, as well as cover the floor without further training.
I was supposed to be scheduled for at least a month of ‘training’ shifts, that is, to at least be shadowed by someone with experience—but the person training me had relayed to our supervisor that I’m doing good enough to slacken the leash.
Woo! Kind of. Except it feels like I’m floundering, making stupid clerical mistakes and other, what feels like, larger ones (I feel like i’ve blown so many veins.) They told me to call down to the lab if I have any questions, but what do they expect me to do if I’m unsure of something mid-draw—hand the hub over to the patient and run to the phone??
I’m just afraid that I got beginner’s luck and that they think I’m a lot better/more secure than I actually am. It’s not as if I’m making egregious mistakes every single time, but I still just don’t feel like I’ve been trained well enough. I’ve come straight from school, which they know, with no previous experience outside of school.
I get that we’re pretty badly understaffed, but like is this normal?
Anyway, I feel really out of my depth and I don’t know
how to ask for more help without being viewed as incompetent.