Donating my body to Science!

[Nurse2bSandy]

I was very anxious about being an older, overweight student with a group full of young, slender classmates until I realized that I am doing them a big favor by letting them assess me!

No one else in any of my labs has such high numbers, has such an extensive history, or has actual issues to discuss! I did a skin assessment on a 22 yo with a gorgeous complexion, so soft and smooth and blemish free. Boy, did she have some age spots, wrinkles, scars to describe on me! When we did BP's my classmates thought they couldn't find mine because they weren't going high enough. Many of them had 100/60 or something like that. They didn't know that real people could have a 130/85+. I've actually had a higher BP lately and am having it checked regularly to see if it's a reaction to meds. Many hadn't had to make their cuffs inflate that far before!

This week we do our bathing suit bed baths. I'm no longer nervous about it. (Well, I might be a little anxious, but not bad) I figure that on most of them the washcloth will just glide over. There will be nothing to lift or separate. In the real world, there are lots of nooks and crannies caused by excess skin and weight fluctuations. I'm just doing my part to better their education by letting them experiment with me!:roll

[jjbaby]

LOL I love it Sandy. These wet behind the ears fresh high school grads should begin to see what nursing is really like! I am early 40's and will be graduating in March from RN ADN program. Myself and a few other chronologically challenged students run circles around the skinny little babies in our class. Age does have it's rewards.....Real world nursing does involve people of every shape and size. Thanks for making my day. And good luck with the swinsuit bedbath.

[Rustyhammer]

Love your attitude!

You will go far!

-Russell

[Carolanne]

Your refreshing attitude is great! I can relate, I gave the gals in my clinical a crash course in Varicose Veins 101 when they gathered round me!!

[RN 2005]

I can relate...... I sure did give my lab partner a workout on BP the other day. When they assess me for skin turgor I may shed a tear. I remember playing with my Grandmas skin on her hands and being fascinated with the way it moved and was so thin. Now mine is starting to look the same way! LOL And even though I am only 36 I have several age spots as well. Oh well - happens to us all!

Thanks for the laugh Sandy!

[live4today, RN]

Thumbs up to you Sandy! What a great attitude and wonderful sense of humor you have. You'll make an excellent nurse! Gotta be able to be very humoruos at times when working as a nurse, and not be ashamed to share of your own health experiences for the learning purposes of others who care to learn from your own health experiences. :kiss

[SirJohnny]

Nurse2bSandy:

- How do the guys handle the bathing?

- Do you feel uncomfortable letting a guy bathing you?

- I think this would be one of my more nervous times in clinicals.

Thanks,

John Coxey

[NurseWeasel]

Not Sandy, but I'll answer anyway. The trick to being nervous about baths & other things like that is to remember that we're all human, most of the group is nervous, and yet it has to be done. I was going to say "when you're as old as I am...", but I see that you've surpassed me, lol... but anyway, my own attitude is that "hey, we've all got bodies, they're all different and yet they're all the same. Why be embarrassed about it? Life's too short." I'm the one up there being the "model" in my sport bra and shorts, and I'm certainly not traditional "model" material... I've had kids, I'm far past 20 (and 30, lol), but hey... here I am. I wasted enough of my life being hung up on my body. These days I strive to be very openminded and accepting... of myself. It seems to come much more easily (being accepting and openminded) when looking outward than inward, but it can be done.

As to nursing school co-ed bathing experiences, it's just an assignment, folks. Don't let it get to you. It's awkward because you're bathing your cohorts, but it really does give you empathy for the patients when you start doing them "in real life". Good luck.

[Berta]

Sandy,

LOL....You sound just like me. I freaked when I learned we had to do practice bed baths on each other because that I am the biggest one in my class. But I too, let them all practice on me as a ginea (sp?) pig. It shows them that not all patients are "normal" size. I had to chuckle when we did skin assessment and one young girl was "totally shocked" to see a strech mark.

Also, when it came to bp's only half of them thought to grab the large cuff. The other half pumped the thing so darn high it wasn't funny. They never expected "normal" blood pressure on me.

[sunnybrook23]

Bathing!!!!!!!!!!!!! What the heck are you people talking about? We bath each other in nursing school?????

Forgive me if I have it all wrong :)

Rebecca

[Ruylupez]

Yes, in many nursing schools the way you prove you have learned to do a bed bath is that you and a partner give bed baths to each other while wearing swim suites.

In my school the allowed us to stay fully clothed and demonstrate on each other using a dry cloth.

[LilRedRN1973]

LOL.... we only got to use the dummies for our bed baths...and many other procedures. Changing and making an occupied bed is very difficult when you have a stiff dummy to work around. I almost wish we had used each other for the bed bath. It would have been more realistic that way. But the modesty with some of my classmates shocks me!! I mean, we are going into a profession where you see a LOT of stuff you don't normally get to see. There are girls who are freaked out about putting on the gown so we can do assessments. And this one girl is so grossed out by everthing, I'm not sure how she's going to do in our LTC clinicals. She can't handle feet, stomas, BM, washing hair, perineal care, etc. I can't handle vomit, but that's it. Everything else I'm pretty okay with. For some reason, the vomit gets me every single time.