Please help me figure out what went wrong

Hi. this is my first post on this forum. I had something happened to me the other day, and I am trying to figure out what I did wrong. I have given plenty of injections and not a newbie at it. However, I had a problem the other day while giving a patient a flu shot. She was very nervous about getting a shot. Her six year-old son was witnessing, and he was fearful to go next. the needle sprung back out when I injected it, and it was bent. I felt awful, as she was nervous to begin with. And, her poor son was forced to get an injection, and he just witnessed what happened tohis mom. She said that it was no big deal, but I am sure that she reacted in that way, only for the benefit for her anxious child. What did I do wrong? Nothing like this has ever happened before. I have had people with tough skin, but I never had a syringe pop out and bend. Any ideas on what went wrong would be greatly appreciated.

When I was in nursing school many years ago there was a patient whose body would not accept injections any more. The med would just squirt right back out again if someone managed to get the needle in. Sounded like this. It was said that it was because she had fluid overload and had been getting too many injections over too long a period of time. I would suggest that maybe the needle was defective or she was so tense that her musculature was taut as well as her skin, causing a defective needle to bounce off. Too bad her son had to witness that. Perhaps in the future you could suggest a way to distract a child so they don't get more upset than they are anyway.

If she severely tightens up her muscle at the moment of injection, it can bend the needle. Not your error, she just needed to calm down. Mom should have been more calm- kids take their cues from parents, so if Mom was freaked out, the child will be more freaked out....

:yeahthat: I agree with you, Amanda. Kids do pick up alot from their folks. Mom used positive reinforcement with me re: immunizations, which I believe led to the career in nursing.

Too bad this had to happen.

Thanks for replies. The other nurse said that she was very nervous, and believed that she tensed her muscle up. So, I guess that is what happened. I was so embarrassed that happened. But, I was still thinking that I had done something wrong.

I did try to to distract him by singing the alphabet.(while the other nurse gave the shot) However, he did not want too. He was terrified at this point. His brother went first, and he tolerated it with no problems. Then mom thought that it would be good to show the scared child that it would be okay.

But, I feel better now that it was not me. Thank you for easing my mind.

This also happened to me while doing the H1N1 drive through clinic, where we immunized >5,000 people in 8 hours. Only in my case the kids went first, did a great job, and then the mother started crying and asking the kids to hold her hand and screaming "help me Jesus!" Never have I wanted to slap someone so much in my life! The teenage daughter in the back seat said finally said "get over it mom and grow up". I wanted to hug that girl! Then I gave the injection and the needle bent. One of the other RN's told me I should have refused to give her the injection, in hindsight I think I might agree.

:nurse-rofl: I love it! The kid telling the mom to 'Grow up'! :nurse-rofl: