Overweight issues; uncomfortable with being practiced on by another student - Page 2

I am not overweight, but if it makes you feel any better, I don't ever judge my fellow student's bodies when doing our assessments, or vitals or whatever. I won't be judgmental of my patients, so why start now? I haven't seen any two people shaped the same and that's perfectly okay. I think it's a shame they don't have large enough scrubs or cuffs to fit you. It's a bit ridiculous.

I am also very overweight. I am in my first semester of nursing school. In my clinical group I am the only overweight one, and I hate having my classmates work on me. I am terrified of the upcoming donning/doffing PPE class. I know the gown won't fit me (my guess is I'll have to wear 2) but even worse than that is trying to put shoe booties on my feet while standing up wearing scrubs that are a little too tight on me. I always sit on my bed to put socks/shoes on and I don't know how easy it'll be to do it because I have a large abdomen and trouble reaching my feet. Now, don't get me wrong, I can stand 8+ hours on my feet and keep pace with my fellow classmates with no problem. Sure, my feet will hurt, my back will ache, but I will get my job done!

I always laugh at myself. It is a defense mechanism but it works. In the real world of nursing out here, I am infrequently openly judged by patients. Ive had one patient make a snide comment that bothered me briefly, but I remind myself that I am a professional and as such, I had to remain an advocate. I would have been immensely uncomfortable allowing a classmate to perform a head to toe skin assessment on me. I have some private tattoos I wouldn't want anyone but a serious significant other to see.

I am a large woman and while I was lucky to find scrubs that fit, I was terrified when it came to simulating bed baths. Thankfully, the person I was partnered with could have cared less. They were professional and in no way made me feel ashamed because I was big.

We will also being doing a complete head-to-toe assessment as our final check off this semester and it will be complete! Am I freaked out at the possibility of having it done to me? I was at first, but after I have gotten to know quite a few of my classmates I know it will be all good.

It's hard to allow ourselves to "play" patient, but I think in the end it makes us humble and helps us to better understand what our future patients will go through.

**sorry if this is all rambling, but it's a tad early for me and I'm a tad freaked out because I start clinicals today. LOL**

This is pretty standard practice for nursing schools -- you would likely have a hard time finding a school where this wouldn't be an expectation.

I get self-conscious too. Just try to remember that your instructors who will be evaluating your practicums are seasoned nurses and they've seen it all before. They're not there to judge your body, they are there to watch your partner correctly perform the skills. If you can, try to pair up with another overweight student; you might feel a little more comfortable. Also, if there are any CNAs or LPNs in your class, remember they've seen it all before too. But anyone going into nursing must understand that bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and we must take care to allow the patient as much dignity as possible during potentially embarrassing procedures.

This semester we are doing EKGs on each other and I have very large breasts, so I have no idea how that's going to go for me. I don't have the option of wearing a simple sports bra - they don't make them in my size. I will be really embarrassed if I have to take my bra off. Someone suggested that I look into wireless (maternity) nursing bras, as they do make them in large sizes and will allow more access. I also have an issue with the uniform - it has snaps up the front and they are a men's cut & sizes (why?!) so in order to avoid the buttons gaping at my chest I have to wear a men's XXL, which fits across my chest, and then falls over the rest of my body like a tent, making me look even bigger than I really am.

Just keep telling yourself that you're your own worst critic - everyone else is just concerned about the nursing skills involved.

You got good advice. Take care.

My school mostly does lab practice with the mannequins. We do BP, Pulse, Resps, Temp on each other, but bed baths, skin assessments, etc. are done on our plastic patients. We are not allowed by school policy to do blood draws, IVs, NG tubes on each other--that was a big concern of mine. I don't want to be stuck a bunch of times by a student, I have a hard enough time letting an experienced person take my blood! All of that is done via computer sims, the plastic people and in clinicals.

I'm sorry that these things have affected you and maybe even discouraged you from school.

For my fundamentals course, we too had to wear a gown or short shorts (spanky style) & a sports bra for the physical assessments by the other students. And if you've done the cardiac assessment yet, you know that the breast must even be lifted up to correctly hear sounds. The stomach must palpated. It's all in the name of health!

To me, it was no problem, but everyone is different. I thought of it as an opportunity to help another student learn. How awful would it be if the first time we did physical assessments, it was on a real patient!? That would be worse, in my opinion. That's the other choice.

I hope that you continue you in your studies and remember that you are more than a body; most people know this and don't judge you just because of your size. The ones that do judge you, have a million problems of their own They may not be visible, but they are there.

Honestly, I am one of 4 male students in my class. I can't speak for how everyone else feels, but I really don't judge anyone. I think that you should not feel self conscious. I personally have a hard time doing practice sessions on fellow female students so i tend to be shy and stick with my male cohorts. I myself have dealt with weight issues in the past. I just want you to know that in this professions, we will deal with people of all shapes and sizes, and no-one who puts the effort in to become a nurse should feel self conscious about the way they look. We are all working towards the same thing, and in the end, the patient doesn't care about how you look, they care about how good of a nurse you can be, and weight is certainly not a determinate of that.

PS: You need to remember that you are an amazing person and are going to make such a difference in so many peoples lives.

Also, my heart goes out to you, I just really don't want you to be discouraged by something so trivial. I feel so strongly about this that your post made me register on this site. Don't feel insecure. You are awesome.