With the complexity of the job, there are many mistakes that can be made in nursing. Sometimes it’s charting something wrong, but sometimes it’s more serious. The most important things to do after a mistake is made are to take responsibility for it, correct it, and learn from it. One mistake that comes to mind occurred when I had my first patient fall. Thankfully the patient was unharmed, but there were precautions that I could’ve taken to prevent this from happening.

Another staff member and I were transferring my patient from the bedside commode to the chair. Although we were using an assistive device to help her stand and sit on the chair, there were a few mistakes that I made that led to the patient falling. First off, I didn’t use a gait belt, which is safety measure we often use for patients who are at risk for falls. Had I had this on the patient, I could’ve used it for more support when sitting her down. Additionally, the chair was an electric one that had a sit-to-stand feature. This angles the chair so that it is easier for patients to get on and off of it. Unfortunately, I had the chair angled too high, and that combined with the incontinence pad on the chair caused the patient to slide off of the chair and onto the floor.

After a patient falls, we assess them for any injury, and if appropriate, help them off of the floor. We then have a “Post Fall Huddle,” where members of the care team discuss the event as a way to learn from our mistakes and prevent falls in the future. This process helped me to make it a point to use gait belts when moving my patients and to make sure I set up chairs to promote safe patient transfers. Mistakes are not something that anyone wants to make, but as long as something is learned from them, we can use that knowledge to improve our practice to make sure we don’t repeat the misdraw in the future.

Having a nursing mentor is something that people had mentioned would help with the stress of being a new nurse, but I never really understood the impact a mentor could have until I became lucky enough to find one. My senior year of college, I was set up with Audra Hanners (pictured) as my advisor for my precepting rotation. I had never had night shift clinicals, and the schedule became difficult for me very quickly. Audra took the time to ask how I was adjusting and asked about my commitments outside of nursing school. She helped me to focus on making time for my wellness so that I could get through the semester without feeling burnt out. She checked in on me numerous times, making sure I had the opportunity to talk about things that were causing me stress while she was my advisor. After my preceptorship ended, Audra continued to be a resource for me.

When I was applying to nursing jobs for the first time, Audra helped me grow professionally. She talked me through the application process, looking over my resume and encouraging me to think through answers for potential interview questions. She would meet with me for coffee to talk about my plans for the future. When I was accepted for a position at OSU, she encouraged me to learn the most I could from my new job. I was nervous because I never saw myself as a med-surg nurse but having the support of Audra helped me to take on the challenge and grow from it. Even during the COVID lockdowns, she would Zoom call me to check in and make sure I was adjusting to my new role well. When I was overwhelmed with being a new nurse and decided not to continue with the BSN-DNP program, she completely supported me. That was a very tough decision to make, but I felt good about it after talking through things with her.

Audra has been a role model, friend, and mentor to me in a time when I needed her most. I hope that I can be a mentor to someone as she has been a mentor to me. Without her, I would not be the nurse I am today, and I am so grateful for her. Mentors truly are great resources to have, and I am very lucky that Audra is mine.