Questions about clinical skills labs-IV & NG Feeding tubes

[noellelynn]

Hey everyone--

To those that have went through nursing school or are currently:

How exactly does nursing school work? I understand there are classroom lectures, clinicals which what I understand are in hospitals, etc. in different units each semester, where you work with RN's with actual patients, and then there is a clinical skills lab? Is the clinical skills lab usually held on campus where the lectures are? And in these clincal skills lab are iv's actually inserted? Are these skills practiced on other nursing students in your class, dummies? etc. What about NG feeding tubes? Do students practice these skills on one another?!! This kind of scares me if so! I've heard some students haven't even inserted an IV the whole way through nursing school....they never do untill they get into their actual job after nursing school. Has anyone else experienced any of this? I guess it could vary from school to school, but just wondering if anyone had any insight on this. Thanks in advance!!

[Jilaweez, BSN, MSN, RN]

I'm sure it varies somewhat by school but we have a skills lab in our nursing school, where we practice IV's, NG's on dummies. Once we have been checked off in the lab we are able to do it in our hospital clinical with an instructor present to guide us through.

We spent our first eight weeks of first semester in the skills lab, then the second eight weeks in a hospital. We never did anything invasive on each other, just things like blood pressure.

I bet if you look up the schools you are interested in online they have pictures or information about the labs, many colleges boast their facilities.

[Gauge]

Our skills labs are held in the classroom that we have our lectures in. We have lectures, clinicals, and skills labs all in the same week. We do all of our checkoffs on a dummy and if it is something noninvasive like VSs we do it on each other. Once we get checked off on it in lab then we are able to practice that skill in the hospital. So if we do NG tube checkoffs in lab this week, then I'm able to do one on a real person after that if need be. It really depends on what needs to be done at the hospital as far as skills on real people go. I've learned NG tubes, catheters, sterile dressings, nasopharyngeal suctioning, etc. but I only got to do sterile dressing changes this semester on people in the hospital. I still have 2 more years left so I'm sure I'll eventually get something.

[amybethf]

Our skills labs are held in the classroom that we have our lectures in. We have lectures, clinicals, and skills labs all in the same week. We do all of our checkoffs on a dummy and if it is something noninvasive like VSs we do it on each other. Once we get checked off on it in lab then we are able to practice that skill in the hospital. So if we do NG tube checkoffs in lab this week, then I'm able to do one on a real person after that if need be. It really depends on what needs to be done at the hospital as far as skills on real people go. I've learned NG tubes, catheters, sterile dressings, nasopharyngeal suctioning, etc. but I only got to do sterile dressing changes this semester on people in the hospital. I still have 2 more years left so I'm sure I'll eventually get something.

During fundamentals, you learn the basics: VS, head-to-toe assessment, bed baths, meds and med administration, body mechanics and catheters. Before Med/Surg, you learn sterile dressing changes and irrigation, NG tubes and suctioning and hanging IV's and piggyback's plus the drip rate. You do not do IV placement or IV pushes in NS. We had a practice lab on campus with dummies and also practiced on each other when appropriate.

In clinicals, you are under the guidance of your CI, nurse and Nursing asst. VIP - always ask your CI or nurse before doing something you are unsure about. And NEVER tie anything to the siderails!!!

Good luck - it is so much fun to learn the nursing process!

[CISCOPATRICK06]

Hello New nursing students,

About nursing school, it all depends on your school's plan of action. You will have a clinical lab to practice your technical nursing skills on dummies, including injections, NGTs, basic fundamentals. You will then move on to actual clinical hospital sites to practice higher level skills and patient care. I would recommend looking around at your surrounding hospitals to see if they offer a nurse extern/intern program (during the end of your junior year until graduation). Many hospitals have paid extern programs that will allow you to hone up on your patient skills. take advantage of it if you can. Good luck to you all. It seems like a long road, but it will be over soon.

S (3 weeks left until graduation)

[BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN]

You have the basic idea of what goes on where. As for the specific skills you learn, it is up to the individual school. All of my students are so disappointed to find out that they do NOT insert IVs while in school (I really don't know what the big deal is). In our area, none of the students learn it in school. Many of our hospitals are teaching hospitals and the residents do them, or there is an IV team, or they teach you when you start working.

In our school the only thing the students do on each other is physical assessment (not everything, but lung sounds, pulses, apical, neuro checks, etc), VS, and occupied beds. That's it!!