Appropriate way to Check off Bed Baths (Fundamentals)

[AmesRT6510]

Hello Nursing friends :)

I have a question - my classmates and I went into our practice lab tonight and our professor told us that in order to practice bed baths, we had to be in bathing suits, bring our own towels, soap, etc etc. We all were completely thrown off guard because number 1- she never told us although she swore she did 2- I find it almost unethical to be bathing a classmate. Many of us are very uncomfortable with this and luckily we have two instructors so many of us will check off the skill with her in clinical.

What do you think of this? I know many skills are practiced on a classmate - I am a respiratory therapist so I know we practiced skills on one another when appropriate. I find this really not appropriate. My question is, is this normal? Is this something that we should speak up about or just accept?

Thanks for the input..

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

It truly amazes me how many people are saying "what's the big deal?" "I have bigger fish to fry", etc. Do you not understand that it isn't just about you, for reasons enumerated farther back in the thread? The "rethink your career" has now made it's appearance, right about on schedule.

Gotta love it when people just pick and choose the parts of a comment that they want to respond to. Context is important... or did the internet use disappearing ink on the part of my post that said:

If you've been abused in the past or if you have religious or other reasons for not exposing your arms and legs to another person, discuss it with your instructor and work around it.

Yep, my entire post was "all about me" now, wasn't it?

[nursel56]

Gotta love it when people just pick and choose the parts of a comment that they want to respond to. Context is important... or did the internet use disappearing ink on the part of my post that sai

If you had read my posts you would know that I don't believe the "opt out" choice is a solution because again, it places the person who chooses to opt out in the position of an outsider through no fault of his or her own. Interactions with schoolmates don't have the same dynamic as the nurse' patient relationship.

We constantly here it said (and rightfully so) that assignments be fair and treat each student the same way. Under the bath assignment/challenge it's possible that the touch-averse student would fail out, and be declared unfit to be a nurse The hypothetical needle-averse student would've failed out last semester if she was unable to guts it through her fear, but because the legal team made a decision in the facility's interest she'll be good to go and finish school.

To me that is wrong and really not fair, especially over a bed bath! I know you didn't say this, but telling someone "your body isn't so special" --sends the opposite message. We're finally teaching our kids in elementary school over and over again to be aware of and stop someone from doing something that makes them uncomfortable, but they have to forget all that if they choose nursing as a career?

Brillo, I'm not targeting you (why I didn't quote anyone in the all about me post) and I'm sorry if you feel that way. I used to believe the way you do but some of the past posts on this issue were so heart-wrenching I thought it all over and changed my mind. I do respect you and your opinions. I get too hot collar about it, I suppose we all have emotional trigger-issues from some of the stuff we read here.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

And again, I stated "discuss it with your instructor and work around it." It can be done privately and respectfully -- no need to make a big announcement, "HEY EVERYONE, CHECK OUT SO-AND-SO, THEY'RE NOT DOING THE BATH CHECK-OFF!"

If someone feels that they cannot approach their instructor privately and discuss something like this and be treated with respect in the process, them they are in the wrong nursing program. Instructors should be willing to work around issues like that.

With that being said, there are some parts of nursing school that are just plain uncomfortable to deal with. For example, many of my joints grind horrifically, and it gave some people the heebie-jeebies to feel it while doing physical assessments. (For that matter, seeing my knees hyper-extend 13 degrees as their version of "straight" makes my physical therapist visibly cringe every time -- I used to do it just to squick her out!)

Some people have problems with certain smells, textures, needles, whatever. I personally have reactions to various adhesives, so when we did the colostomy lab (when we had to wear bags of fake poop for several hours), my instructor worked with me to modify a system using Coban instead of adhesive.

Identify the problem, and identify a work-around.

[SleeepyRN]

I think it might be a little weird if I had to be completely naked and the whole class could see me. If its just a few others and I have on a swimsuit then I can't imagine how that could be uncomfortable?!? If you went on vacation to Hawaii would you not lay on the beach in front of everyone there in a swimsuit?

Actually, I am extremely self conscious, and it took 8 years of being with my husband before I even let him see me in my bathing suit. Even then I was unable to find a bathing suit that fit my extremely large breasts, so my breasts were quite shown off when we went to a water park resort. Talk about embarrassing, but I did it for my husband because he really wanted to go to a water park.

[SleeepyRN]

For those who say this is inappropriate, what do you suggest? .

What do I suggest? A discussion about it in class and then this crazy idea called clinical.

I've been a patient a patient.

Hell I AM a patient. I spend 2 days each week with my legs wide open allowing a stranger to stick a tube in my urethra for bladder installations for interstitial cystitis. And you know what? I'm actually more comfortable with that than wearing a bathing suit so my classmates can bathe me. I don't need that to teach me empathy. I already possess it.

[nursel56]

And again, I stated AdiscussTh it with your instructor and work around it." It can be done privately and respectfully -- no need to make a big announcement, "HEY EVERYONE, CHECK OUT SO-AND-SO, THEY'RE NOT DOING THE BATH CHECK-OFF!"

If someone feels that they cannot approach their instructor privately and discuss something like this and be treated with respect in the process, them they are in the wrong nursing program. Instructors should be willing to work around issues like that.

With that being said, there are some parts of nursing school that are just plain uncomfortable to deal with. For example, many of my joints grind horrifically, and it gave some people the heebie-jeebies to feel it while doing physical assessments. (For that matter, seeing my knees hyper-extend 13 degrees as their version of "straight" makes my physical therapist visibly cringe every time -- I used to do it just to squick her out!)

Most groups are small enough that it would be obvious who was not doing the bath check-off. There will always be a few who say, "how come she doesn't have to do this and we do?" I will never agree that a bed bath skills lab is sufficient reason to either dismiss a student from a program or have a student voluntarily withdraw from his or her program -- based on as capricious a factor as how their skills lab instructor may respond to a respectful approach.

If one of the hidden goals as described earlier is to force people to face their body image issues, they could end up more traumatized, rather than less - and suddenly out of school to boot.

The other things you mentioned to compare this to don't really fall into the same category to me. Most students know they'll face weird and gross at some point. On the other hand, many bath skills instructors purposefully wait until the last minute to spring the news to decrease their student's options without suffering consequences..

After all is said and done, not doing bed baths on each other is not such a big deal, either, especially when people are willing to make the stakes so high.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

For those who say this is inappropriate, what do you suggest?

How about doing it like before there were "sim labs"...we did clinical in nursing home first to learn the basics of bathing and bed making, wound care and dressings....then graduated to the hospital. We practiced on people.....in the hospital setting.

Our instructors taught us by example and leadership with guidance and confidence. We were paired with CNA's and nurses to do morning care with someone who "knew how" and the instructor checked us off there.......we didn't need to be embarrassed and humiliated to learn how to be empathetic and give good care.

My CI went to the hospital before clinical and went floor to floor to ask for procedures and weird thing to do and see....she was vested in making a nurses. I think we've done a good job at being nurses and giving good baths the last 34 years and I never had to wear a bathing suit to class to be pawed at by a stranger to "teach me a lesson"

I think it's demeaning and degrading to the students......I can learn without being exposed in my sports bra at school.....but that is just my point of view and it's only important to me.