The Dumb Kid

The Dumb Kid

I’m a nurse employed by a small rural hospital in western Pennsylvania. I work in the ambulatory services department. One of my duties is to assist the Physicians in endoscopies and minor surgical procedures. A couple of years ago, shortly after I was hired, I was assisting with a procedure that I wasn’t very experienced in. In addition to my inexperience, we were using a new procedure kit that our team, including the Doctor, was not familiar with. We were having trouble understanding the kit, and the procedure was taking much longer than expected, so the floor supervisor decided to come in and check on our progress. When she asked, “What is taking so long”, the doctor replied, “It’s this dumb kit.” The supervisor thought he was referring to me and said, “It’s this dumb kid.” She replied by saying “he has to learn sometime”. The supervisor left, and we finished a rather long but successful procedure.
Upon completion of the procedure, and while the patient was still under sedation, two of the team members broke into hysterical laughter about what had taken place. We all, including the doctor, had a good laugh about the misunderstanding.
My supervisor never mentioned the incident to me, but from time to time, my co-workers still refer to me, as The Dumb Kid.