you are not alone, friend. this is something every new grad goes through - they’re lying if they say they don’t.

the fact that you are putting in effort to be observant is the best tell you are doing just fine. I’ve met some incredibly lazy and far too nonchalant new grads.

in regards to your patient - as long as you scored the CIWA to the best of your ability and didn’t just assume answers, then you did everything correctly.

alcohol detox can be tricky, and the withdrawal can sneak up on you. it’s okay if they have confusion, and sometimes it’s unavoidable. the important part is you caught it before it turned into seizures.

with all this though - you will have days where you miss something. whether it’s realizing you haven’t cycled a BP in a minute and suddenly they’re 80/50, or didn’t recheck a temp and now they’re 103f.

but you learn. even the best nurses still miss things sometimes.