So I had my second practical exam on Friday.
My skill stations went fine. My full call (turns out, I had to do a full call anyway, bah, despite being told it was just three skill stations) … well, it went GREAT, except for one thing.
The call: Trauma call, patient was hiking, slipped down an embankment about 10ft, and hit a tree. Closed tib/fib fracture, but bent all to hell and back. Bad discoloration, no distal pulses, and about a 45 degree angle in the middle of the lower leg where you really shouldn’t have a 45 degree angle.
I realigned the leg, got distal pulses back and the discoloration improved drastically.
And here’s where I fucked up: I flagged the pt as rapid transport. It wasn’t.
In my defense… Justice Institute standards are such that if any limb has no distal pulses, it’s rapid transport even if you get the pulse back. Turns out, licensing says if the pulses come back, they’re stable. I sort of half realized AFTER the call that … fuck… that was a stay & play sager splint call. But again, wasn’t sure because of what we’d been taught via the JI. Well, maybe they won’t penalize me for erring on the side of caution (ie, getting to the hospital faster.) Hah. Yeah right.
Mother of stupid.
They said they felt really bad about it, because other than miscategorizing the decision point, it went just about perfectly (late hospital update, but everything else was fine.) And they apparently considered just making me do a sager, but … really, it was the decision point that I buggered, and they can’t just re-test me on that.
So, I go back AGAIN for one more full call. *slaps forehead*
And that’s one more thing I include in my JI complaint letter. Seriously, when licensing updates their standards… UPDATE YOURS. Don’t teach us the WRONG thing to do! Why? Why would you even DO that? If the license that you’re training me for has specific protocols and requirements, would it not behoove them to teach us the RIGHT protocols & requirements?
Oh well. I still have another chance. The lead test guy tried to make me feel better by telling me that I’ll likely ace the call on my last try, and my license will be just as valid as someone who passed on their first try.
Still, feel pretty damn crappy about it nevertheless. I KNOW I’m pretty good at this, but … self doubt is a bitch.