A&P Labs

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Okay guys,

this might sound like a silly question, but what is it that goes on in Anatomy and Physiology labs? Like what kind of activities do you do in there? Just wondering, because I will be starting mine soon and am wondering what to look forward too. :)

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
I work as a lab assistant for A&P II at my school. We use a cadaver as well as buckets of organs from previous cadavers. Sometimes we get cow hearts from a local place and dissect them, but mostly it is labeling and identifying from the organs and plastic models. Most of the physiology is in the lecture portion.

That is so neat. They must be pricey though? :)

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we had 4 human cadavers an assortment of pig kidneys and sheep hearts and brains. TONS OF SLIDES because we had extensive histology practicals. lots of skeletons articulated and in pieces. cranial nerve exam, (know all 12 pairs of cranial nerves and their origins and all innervations) and blood tracing (test day you get a couple of blank sheets of paper and a list of maybe 8 places to take blood to in the body and you basically had to write a 2 page list of every place the blood goes through in correct order of course including all valves and plexi) metabolic pathways (got a blank sheet of paper and you had to draw out krebs cycle, electron transport system, glycolysis, chemical stuctures involved, cellular respiration equation etc...be able to trace the development and circulation of CSF... Our lab was extremely intense. You needed to know all grooves and fissures and protrusions on the bones and their articulations,location all veins and arteries and muscles and organs and their parts. know all functions for the stuctures in each lab what germ layer they were from in embryology etc... We learned a lot and though it was stressful and a bit annoying knowing that the other schools nearby weren't required to learn near as much as we were, I am happy that we had such a good A&P foundation, I feel well prepared for what is ahead.

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thanks for all the replies...I am looking forward to it but I am also verrrry scared! I havent been in school for over a year, so Im nervous! I hope that we will get to use a human cadaver, I think that would be interesting. I hope that doesnt sound too morbid :uhoh3: :)

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Specializes in Urgent Care.
That is so neat. They must be pricey though? :)

The cadaver or the cow hearts? LOL

The cow hearts we get from a meat packing plant for free. They are really bloody though so it's a messy project, but it's nice to be able to do your own and identify everything.

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The cadaver or the cow hearts? LOL

The cow hearts we get from a meat packing plant for free. They are really bloody though so it's a messy project, but it's nice to be able to do your own and identify everything.

In our labs we dissected sheep brains and cats. We also had a cadaver which really helped when it came to learning the different systems. We covered the histology of almost every tissue in the body. If your lab manual comes with a "histology atlas", i would definitely get familiar with the pictures in it, but of course what u need to know will depend on your instructor.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
The cadaver or the cow hearts? LOL

The cow hearts we get from a meat packing plant for free. They are really bloody though so it's a messy project, but it's nice to be able to do your own and identify everything.

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The cadavers :rotfl:

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Specializes in Urgent Care.

I don't know what they pay for them, but we get one a year, so it has to last both semesters.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
I don't know what they pay for them, but we get one a year, so it has to last both semesters.

Oh I see. I wish my school did that. For the kind of money we pay you'd kida expect it :)

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Specializes in Operating Room.
Oh I see. I wish my school did that. For the kind of money we pay you'd kida expect it :)

My CC doesn't have cadavers, but then again the tuition is low. ($33/credit hour for in district / $60 for out of district) That's with the new tuition increase. lol

I'd like to be able to use a cadaver. I would much rather learn on a human body than a cat, pig, sheep or cow. (I'm not going to be a Vet.) lol

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Specializes in Urgent Care.

I'll ask when we start back up again if he knows what the school pays for them. I may go in and help dissect before the semester starts :)

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Specializes in Wanna be in NICU.

I am 35 years old (going to be 36 next week) I have 4 children and I am starting back to school this fall. Talk about nervous. When I took my colleges placement exam I was the oldest one in there. I also was the last one to finish the test. Luckily I did well enough to go directly into the pre req's for the nursing program. I am nervous to start Human Anatomy though. A&P are seperate classes at my college. I hope with all my family responsibilities I can finish this class without feeling overwhelmed.

We do dissect a cat. I love cats so the idea about covering the head is great advice. But my question is: Does anybody ever get sick, dizzy, faint,etc. :uhoh3: the first few times looking at a cadaver etc. And do you get over it. My fear is that i won't be able to handle it.

I want to be a L&D nurse not trauma, but I know I will have to experience it all.

Any feedback????

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I am 35 years old (going to be 36 next week) I have 4 children and I am starting back to school this fall. Talk about nervous. When I took my colleges placement exam I was the oldest one in there. I also was the last one to finish the test. Luckily I did well enough to go directly into the pre req's for the nursing program. I am nervous to start Human Anatomy though. A&P are seperate classes at my college. I hope with all my family responsibilities I can finish this class without feeling overwhelmed.

We do dissect a cat. I love cats so the idea about covering the head is great advice. But my question is: Does anybody ever get sick, dizzy, faint,etc. :uhoh3: the first few times looking at a cadaver etc. And do you get over it. My fear is that i won't be able to handle it.

I want to be a L&D nurse not trauma, but I know I will have to experience it all.

Any feedback????

I took both A&P I&II this summer, and talk about feeling overwhelmed

! As long as you make up your mind to set aside a reasonable amount of time to study, you should do fine. I'm not a parent so I can imagine it makes it more difficult to take a class,especially this one and do well in it. I'm sure you'll be fine. I had people in my class this summer who were married with children and they all did very well. All of our lectures were on power point so I would print them off in note form, then go home and make flash cards of everything I thought was important. My teacher also gave a brief study guide before the tests so we would know what to expect. If you can, ask your professor for a study guide too. They are beneficial. As for the dissections, we had cats and one cadaver to work on. I LOVE cats myself, so it was hard at first, but I guess I got used to it. We did have a girl in class pass out the first time the cadaver was brought out. She said it was more from the smell (formaldehyde) than actually seeing it. By the end of class she was fine. I hope this helps a little and I wish you the best of luck! I want to be a L&D nurse too! :)

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