Is this how it is statewide?

lilbiskit78 · Apr 10, 2004

From what I have learned...a lot of it from this website, there is nursing school, and then there is the real world. Nursing school teaches you how to pass boards....however, I would think that the basic practices you learn in school would still be followed. I too have seen some stuff at clinicals that freaked me out, nurses starting IV with no gloves, nurses cleaning up code browns with no gloves (YUCK!!). I think it just depends on each person....I have also seen some nurses that are totally by the book. I'm sure once I graduate, there will be lots of things I don't do the "perfect" way I learned it in school, b/c in the real world, you don't encounter perfect situations. However, I know I am going to carry basic safety precautions with me...why put yourself or someone else at risk when it can be prevented?? Doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, good luck in school!

Lil

orrnlori, RN · Apr 10, 2004

There's the nursing school way and then there's the real world way, they are seldom the same.

dwag · Apr 14, 2004

There is the nursing school way and the real world way but that doesn't mean they don't have to be similar. The way we are taught in school is more thorough, more safe, but sometime less efficient. The problem is when we deviate from the way we are taught our safety and our patient's safety is put in jeopardy. I have worked in the healthcare field and am currently doing a preceptorship for my last few weeks of school and I too have seen some awful things. However, I choose to maintain the practices I learned in school because I feel they are safer for the clients. It is more difficult to do because it consumes more time when you have 5+ patients, but my question to you is would you want someone caring for your family member like that? I know I wouldn't. Nobody is perfect but we can all be safe. Also, overtime as we are able to improve our time management we will be able to perform the skills we learned in school more efficiently. Overall, don't go with the norm - if the norm is gross and unsafe. Do things the way you learned them - better safe, clean, and meticulous than sorry!

epg_pei · Apr 14, 2004

...nurses cleaning up code browns with no gloves (YUCK!!)....

It only happened once, I was busy and particularly stupid that day, I did put on gloves after I realised what I'd done, and it will NEVER happen again!! :rotfl:

suzanne4, RN · Apr 14, 2004

:uhoh21: Picking up a pill from the floor and putting it in a patient's mouth is totally inappropriate. Would you want that done to your family member? I have dropped pills in the past and have always had them replaced by pharmacy, and if it was a pain pill, it's waste was observed and another pill was gotten and given to the patient. Not a common occurance but it did happen. Scary thought to me to think that these things are being done today. Guess that I am very glad that I am living over on this side of the world so I do not have to witness this myself. I have always tried to stay away from hospitals as a ptient and this gives me more reason to. :uhoh3:

Someone not using gloves for a procedure is another pet peeve of mine. That can be dangerous to both you and the patient. It won't be saving you any time if you get sick because you thought that you could cut a few corners and save time. And you can give something to someone else that you had no idea that you even had. These rules were designed to protect both you and your patient. If you do not use what was provided for you, and something happens to you because of it, you will not have any backing of your hospital in any way. Is that expense worth so little to you? :uhoh21:

NurseWeasel · Apr 15, 2004

Think of it this way: They teach to a high standard for a reason. If they have been teaching at the high standard level for umpteen years (which they have) and so many people aren't following that standard, just think what would happen if they taught at a lower standard (using the excuses used by corner-cutters), what kinds of scary stuff would we be witnessing now? There will always be a certain percentage of people who operate on their own standards instead of the "proper" way to do it... so, taking that into account, isn't it only prudent to teach at the higher standard? Better if 80% of people are "cleaner" than they need to be, 15% are at the "reality" level of cleanliness, and only 5% are in the unsafe category, than that 80% of people are at the "reality" level and 20% are in the unsafe category, right? :)

orrnlori, RN · Apr 15, 2004

No I don't agree with cleaning up a patient without gloves, or not washing your hands, or picking up a pill from the floor and giving it to the patient. BUT, what you learn in school is the absolute perfect way to do everything. I have a news flash for the students here, when you get out in the real world, you will find it will be different. Sometimes a vein just can't be felt with bulky poor fitting gloves on, even the anesthesia docs will give up and pull off their gloves to start a tough stick. Just always provide the best care you can with your patients. And remember all those judgements you are passing on current nurses when you go into practice.

Mandylpn · Apr 16, 2004

I'm currently almost finished with my first semester. In class you learn how to do the correct techniques of care. But every RN I have worked with so far hasn't even come close to what they teach us in class and lab. I barely see the RN's washing their hands, I've seen a nurse drop meds on the floor, pick them up and place them in the client's mouth, I've seen a nurse administer a bolus feeding and they dropped the plunger of the syringe on the floor. They picked it up and rinsed it off and put it back in and pushed the solution. :stone
Granted not all are as bad as others, but I was just curious if it is like this were you guys and gals are..........?
Is this just the how the majority of care goes down?

School is not the real world, they are teaching in the "perfect world", but you don't have to pick up on other nurse's bad habits. How would it be if your instructor demonstrated an injection on a patient with a syringe they dropped on the floor? No one is going to do that.

:chair:

Jennerizer, ASN, RN · Apr 16, 2004

Yep, I see it all the time both in the clinical setting & at the hospital I work with. I rarely see the nurses washing their hands, putting gloves on at appropriate times - even seeing one drawing blood without gloves or doing a dressing change without gloves. Even though I witness it happening repeatedly, it still sets off an internal alarm for myself & a reminder to never ever become that lax when I am a nurse. They tease me at work for putting on gloves when I'm doing an accuchek, but I just ignore them. I hear my first semester instructor's voice in my head "If it's wet or sticky & not yours...put on gloves."

I've also seen nurses make medication errors. Now it is starting to make sense why 250 people a day die (in the United States) from medical errors. If the nurses are making this many mistakes, what are the doctors doing?? :uhoh3:

RNKITTY04 · Apr 16, 2004

I see these issues as more of a 'common sense" thing than a "nursing school vs real world" issue. Of course I'm not gonna pick something off the floor and feed it to someone, and of course I'm gonna wear gloves when dealing with poop. Geesh. Sloppy and uncaring is a people issue not just nursing.

TinyNurse, RN · Apr 16, 2004

I'm a new grad ( 10 months outta school) and I work in the ER. For me, I still use everything I was taught in school...... sure other seasoned nurses ask me "why did you go get a new one?", and "what are you doing?" but honestly you are the nurse after graduation, and you need to provide a high standard of care...... after all it is your nursing license that you a are protecting. The things they teach you in school go a long way when it comes to cleanliness and preventing infection. After all, it only takes a minute to go and get a new pill, or call pharmacy for a new pill , etc.... Don't get me wrong, I'm not a perfect nurse, but I do believe and try to practice what was taught to me in school.

my second clinical in nursing school, i went to give a bed bath and just barely removed a patients covers to uncover open sores on a patient's legs........ ever since then I definitely use gloves upon patient contact other than vs.

school is really different than real life, and that's a fact. keep your own standards high though. you will be the nurse someday, and treat the patient how you would want you and your family to be treated.