Anyone have a list of Nursing Fundamental Skills?

Kendal1384 · Jul 19, 2012

That's awesome that you're wanting to be prepared! I'm a second year (third semester) nursing student, so we've already learned all of the "skills", so this year will be full of lectures and more clinicals. What worked for my classmates and I last semester was a disc that came with one of our MANY nursing textbooks that contained videos of each skill. Anywhere from properly bathing (which I'm sure you've mastered as a CNA), head-to-toe assessment, IV, catheter, etc. On top of this we would actually use videos that were on Youtube(beware, you have to sift through to find one that matches up with the way your instructors have want you to learn). Do you have your books yet? If so, they should have a companion website...USE IT! Those were lifesavers as well, and you can use them to guide you through the educational aspect of your skills. Also, enjoy your freedom while you can! It's good to be on top of the game, but don't go to deep. That could actually cause more harm than good. Maybe just researching the purpose of each skill would help as well. We were also taught, our first semester, our duties as an RN...which are very different than other positions. Our responsibilities are tremendous! We learned about the history of nursing which helped me to have a better understanding of what our mission is. Good luck!!!

tenjuna, MSN · Jul 19, 2012

No books yet, which is why I was hoping to get a list. I did some searching on Google and YouTube, but it's hard to know exactly what I should look at when I don't know what all of the skills are. :bugeyes:

Kendal1384 · Jul 19, 2012

Will you all have front-loaded labs before going straight into the clinical setting? That's when you have lectures and skills lab on campus before being able to practice on actual patients.

While the goal is the same, most programs teach different techniques so it's hard to say where you should look until you get books. Once you get your books then I would go from there.

PNicholas · Jul 19, 2012

Our first and second semester validation were, washing hands (seriously!) Making beds, putting pt on bed pan, moving pt rolling pt, making bed with pt in it, restraints, transferring pt from bed to chair, bed , etc., sterile glove, sterile dressing change, inserting foley, suctioning...nasal, oral, trach, inserting ng tube and care, physical assessments, vitals, medication administration...different shot locations needle lengths, oral meds, patches, ear and eye drops, IV meds...inserting and removing. I may have forgot some...but this is the main stuff. All our stuff is in our Perry and Potter book! Now on to 3rd semester in the fall!! Woohoo!

tenjuna, MSN · Jul 19, 2012

Yes they front load the labs before doing actual patients...I just like being overly prepared or I would wait for books before starting.Thanks for the list...most of that came from CNA but it helps.

Annachu512, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2012

We do all of our fundamentals 1st semester, but nothing about placing IVs. We did Foleys and ng tubes. Our second semester is OB/Peds rotation and we restart Adult Nursing in the third smemster. Did you use the Taylor book for your first semester? That has preat procedure breakdowns in the back.

ER(notso)n00b, ASN, RN · Jul 19, 2012

Fundamentals is pretty much the same stuff that CNA's do. After that, my school moved on to head-to-toe assessment, med administration, injections, post-op care, and sterile technique. Next semester I believe we do foleys. IV insertion is third semester.

Cali_Nurse_209 · Jul 19, 2012

Before I received my actual textbooks for my program I ordered Fundamentals of Nursing Made Incredibly Easy and it goes over pretty much all the skills. The whole "Made Incredibly Easy" series are very helpful supplements. I'm also a CNA so the basic care skills for us will be familiar.

NCRNMDM, ASN, RN · Jul 19, 2012

I'm about to start fourth semester. We learned nearly all our skills during first semester. We covered IVs, Foleys, NGs, dressing changes, bladder irrigation, suctioning, IV meds, IM and subcutaneous injections, oxygen therapy modalities, surgical drains and their operation, eye irrigation and administration of eye drops, head to toe assessments, stoma assessments and colostomy care, and a few other things.

We're about to start OB and L&D, and we have another set of skills specific to that class to learn. Other than that, we covered pretty much everything first semester.

tenjuna, MSN · Jul 20, 2012

excellent help, thank you everyone. I unfortunately do not know what books to get yet, but I will try the Made Incredibly Easy.

hgrimmett · Jul 20, 2012

Look for "Mosby's Nursing Video Skills - Student Version DVD: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Skills, 3e." That's what we used in our nursing skills class. :nurse:

Try your local public and/or school library before spending any money.