[BumblebeeRN]

and there is no consistency in preceptoring the new nurses as well!!!

[Ultra Violet]

I am a very new nurse -- on my 6th week of orientation. All I can say is remember how it feels to be a student nurse. I think sometimes stupid things come out of your (student) mouth just out of nervousness. My ADN program has a very high pass rate, I believe 98%, but in my last semester on a cardiac unit, I didn't get many opportunities to hang IVF or meds at all. I had not problem spiking bags, but the pumps seemed a mystery. Here and there I still do something stupid and get air in the line when priming, but that has gotten MUCH better. The other thing is my school taught us to spike the bag w/it laying flat or while it was hung on the pole. However, my preceptor wanted me to spike it w/the bag upside down. She said she saw someone spike a bag of blood while it was hanging, and it spurted all over. So I guess my point is students and new nurses are sometimes nervous, and once you actually work and do it several times, it becomes easy, but I will always try to remember how it feels to be a student/new nurse. Oh yeah, and I always remember things the next time when I do something stupid like... take the spike out of a bag of NS while it's hanging w/a small amount in it... and guess where that small amount landed... on the floor! and yes, I learned from it and YES, I laughed at myself and even gave my preceptor a good laugh later in the night when I told her what I did.

[methylene]

Originally Posted by CrazyPremed

How did you get the skills in an ER/ICU if you are in the second semester of an ADN program. Did you work as a tech?

CrazyPremed

I'm an EMT-B and before I started doing nothing but monitor tech, I worked ER/ICU/tele med-surg as a "critical care tech". It was a hospital program- I didn't have any sort of certification or license, but my scope of practice was such that I helped with some of the nurse aid duties, and did stuff over and above them like 12-lead EKGs, blood draws, IV starts, NG placement, etc.

[marilynmom]

Who gives a flying flip if the student knows how to spike a bag (ANYONE can learn how, even my 6 year old). I'm more interested in the students knowledge and critical thinking skills than whether he/she can spike a bag or empty a foley....you do it once and you will learn it.

I graduate from a BSN program in 5 weeks and I can't think of anything as far as basic skills I haven't done in clinical actually (just today I did a heart bubble test echo and then went and put someone on Prisma and then went and pulled out a cordis--and I only got to do all that because I was with a kick ass nurse today, half the nurses out there won't let students do much of freakin anything it seems!). I've given one IM injection in my life...who cares, I know the theory and know where to look if I have questions about giving another one (I would need to review landmarks).

I am still not super comfortable with IV drips. I didn't get the change to even spike an IV bag until the beginning of this semester, but what does that matter?? I'm good at it now!

And btw my BSN program has a 97% pass rate and we had to write one paper. One. We have no nursing theory classes. Big deal. We have clinicals 3 days a week, the ADNs program we are with right now who are in the same semester and about to graduate the same time I do goes twice a week. Is that somehow going to make or break any of us? No.

I'm not sure why you mentioned over and over and over that this was a BSN student or what the schools pass rate is--I've knows some pretty crappy ADN students, but do I go around judging all ADN programs? I really don't care. Students are students and we don't know much but are there to learn without people putting us down or making fun of what we do or don't know.

[allthingsbright]

We had very, very little time working with IV pumps while in school. I felt really nervous going into my job about working w/ the pumps--but now feel like an old pro and I have only been of orientation a couple weeks.

One of my instructors in school told me that school focuses on teaching critical thinking and theory (and that is what hospitals expect new grads to know--they can teach skills)--the skill aspect is actually pretty easily learned compared to higher level thinking.

Yeah, so be gentle with students. There is so much learn...

[nurseby07]

Originally Posted by allthingsbright

We had very, very little time working with IV pumps while in school. I felt really nervous going into my job about working w/ the pumps--but now feel like an old pro and I have only been of orientation a couple weeks.

One of my instructors in school told me that school focuses on teaching critical thinking and theory (and that is what hospitals expect new grads to know--they can teach skills)--the skill aspect is actually pretty easily learned compared to higher level thinking.

Yeah, so be gentle with students. There is so much learn...

So true, especially since every hospital is different.

[KYCNM]

I am an experienced nurse (43 years) and nurse educator (40 + years).

Do those of you who are such experts at IV pumps at YOUR hospital ever consider that students may rotate through 6 or more hospitals during their education. Each hospital MAY have a different IV pump vendor or there are multiple models and each one becomes more complex. My students have 7 weeks to master the theory surrounding assessment of mothers and to some degree fathers (postpartum: physical, psychosocial, and emotional), education of the mother and father (and believe me today's couples [if there is a couple] have not cared for infants as in previous generations); assessment of the infant (physical, gestational age) and 5 clinical days to practice the skills. Believe me my focus is not on IV pumps.

[BumblebeeRN]

Originally Posted by KYCNM

I am an experienced nurse (43 years) and nurse educator (40 + years).

Do those of you who are such experts at IV pumps at YOUR hospital ever consider that students may rotate through 6 or more hospitals during their education. Each hospital MAY have a different IV pump vendor or there are multiple models and each one becomes more complex. My students have 7 weeks to master the theory surrounding assessment of mothers and to some degree fathers (postpartum: physical, psychosocial, and emotional), education of the mother and father (and believe me today's couples [if there is a couple] have not cared for infants as in previous generations); assessment of the infant (physical, gestational age) and 5 clinical days to practice the skills. Believe me my focus is not on IV pumps.

Spiking a bag does not require you to know different types of pumps. A spike is a spike, and an IV bag is an IV bag where-ever facility you go to.

and when you tell someone "oh I was gonna do it" that someone might think that you have already done the skill before.

[sirI]

Please refrain from inflammatory responses. We invite debate, but please keep it friendly.

Thanks!!

[jenrninmi]

What the heck does being ASN or BSN have to do with it??? It depends on the school. Why, why, why would you start a BSN/ADN debate?? Glad you feel so confident as a new grad, just don't be too confident. Someone who thinks they know it all is a very dangerous nurse to work with. My BSN program was fantastic by the way.