[cabykay]

ok, I failed my first checkoff on sterile dressing change because I grazed my breast w/the palm of my hand and didn't realize it to call it. Luckily today on my retake I passed but the instructor told me that I came VERY close to making the same mistake They aren't messing around in my program and have already kicked out 40 people! I came very close to messing up this opportunity. What I'm worried about is that on Thursday I have to do a foley catheter insertion checkoff and don't want to make the same mistake. Is there anyway to practice keeping sterile field? I have a friend who would have been a 2nd yr student but failed that is coming over tomorrow night to help me practice w/a grapefruit so she can keep an eye on my hands.
I'm lucky that she's offered to do this but is there anything that I can do on my own? I really had no idea on either checkoff that I was messing up/almost messing up.

[MBA2BRN]

Originally Posted by cabykay

I'm lucky that she's offered to do this but is there anything that I can do on my own?

No, not unless you mean "on my own" as in practicing in the lab and having the lab nurse watch and correct you. In all honesty you are doing the right thing. Alone you can practice a mistake a million times, then have the misfortune of being corrected on an exam!

GL with Foley Caths! I had fun with my check-off although I was completely stressed from being watched and graded! Three more semesters to go.

[papergirlRN]

cabykay,

I am a 2nd year student in your program, i think. Have you spent extra time in the sim lab practicing on the dummies? We used to hang out up there practicing and get a staff member to come in and watch if they weren't too busy to observe, and they'd tell us what we were doing wrong. That's the only advice I can offer is practice, practice, practice! And if you do mess up, tell your instructor that you messed up; sometimes they'll let you slide without having to start all over if you just tell them "I broke sterile field. In the real world I'd have to start all over."

Good luck! Let us know how you do.

[cabykay]

Originally Posted by papergirl

cabykay,

I am a 2nd year student in your program, i think. Have you spent extra time in the sim lab practicing on the dummies? We used to hang out up there practicing and get a staff member to come in and watch if they weren't too busy to observe, and they'd tell us what we were doing wrong. That's the only advice I can offer is practice, practice, practice! And if you do mess up, tell your instructor that you messed up; sometimes they'll let you slide without having to start all over if you just tell them "I broke sterile field. In the real world I'd have to start all over."

Good luck! Let us know how you do.

hello! I actually am going to go up to UALR tomorrow at 12:30 after Wed's skills practice (mine were today) and get some more practice. I'm grateful that they allow us to tell them when we've messed up but my problem was that I didn't even realize what I had done. I also thought I did very well today but the instructor informed me that I came very close to making the exact same mistake. I hope that between the extra practice tomorrow and my friend coming over tomorrow night, I'll get better.

thanks so much!

[Lisa CCU RN]

All you can do is practice it over and over again until it is second nature.

[WDWpixieRN]

Try to go slow and not get rushed, and remember the rules of sterile field -- no going over the field, no contaminating your field/tools once one of your hands is no longer sterile, the 1" border around the drape, keeping your hands away from your body, etc.

These are some basics that you will use throughout your nursing career!

Good luck!!

[Halinja]

One tip that helped me was pretend your elbows are clamped to your side. You can move your forearm and wrist, but not from the shoulder. Kind of robot like. Its awkward at first, but it is much harder to mess up that way. After a while you probably won't need it, but it is a way to remind yourself of proxemics. (proxemics isn't quite the word I'm trying to think of...meaning being aware of where all your body parts are at any given moment)

[midcom]

OK, I'm curoius. What do you do with a grapefruit?

We got to take our cath kit home & practice with it. I actually pulled out one of my son's old teddybears & it became my patient. Mainly I procaticed the movements & keeping the field sterile. It must have helped. I breezed right through my checkoff. Of course, when it came to actually doing it, I froze.
Dixie

[cabykay]

Originally Posted by midcom

OK, I'm curoius. What do you do with a grapefruit?

We got to take our cath kit home & practice with it. I actually pulled out one of my son's old teddybears & it became my patient. Mainly I procaticed the movements & keeping the field sterile. It must have helped. I breezed right through my checkoff. Of course, when it came to actually doing it, I froze.
Dixie

the grapefruit was actually my friend's genius idea! She used this method last year for practice. I have only bought the grapefruit but she says that it's possible to cut a mock vagina into the grapefruit so you can practice holding it open and inserting the foley.

[midcom]

Ok, she must have a better imagination than I have but if it works, cool.

Actually, now that I think of it, it is probably a passable substitute (much better than the teddy bear!) I visualize cutting a long slit in the grapefruit & then you try to keep it open with one hand while wipeing it with q-tips & inserting the tube.
Have fun.
Dixie