Assessing Each Other??!??

Rnstudent2011 · Aug 1, 2010

I have no problem doing certain things on fellow students, but when it comes to getting undressed I am not comfortable at all with that. I don't think that I should have to wear only a bra infront of fellow students. I understand that practice makes perfect, but I am also entitled to my privacy.

I also have taken other courses, EMT, Phlebotomy etc, and not to be rude, but it can be scary to have some people work on you. I think students should have some say and if your going to work on each other then instructors should be right there to make sure no harm is done.

cheezwhiz · Aug 1, 2010

I have read in these forums that there are many schools that, when taking Health Assessment, the nursing students practice on each other! Is this true? I figured that assessment would take place during clinicals, in an appropriate place. I find it ridiculous. . . We are living in an age where health science technology and education can offer REAL alternatives (i.e. a life size maniquin). I find assessing each other in nursing school is both unprofessional and "ghetto" - for lack of a better word. Seriously, I am comfortable with my body, but come on! Wouldn't it be awkward to assess and/or practice on a fellow student? Also, I heard that some nursing school students practice inserting IVs and nasalgastric tubes on each other. Is this also true?!?! Maybe I'm mistaking the word "assessment." Enlighten me...I'm attending nursing school this fall. I mean, if WE HAVE TO, I will, but...anyway...

Meh, I think my school is typical in that we did both. Practice on each other, then do it on patients in clinical. No nudity ever involved. And never a big deal. Just stuff like feeling pulses, taking blood pressures, listening to heart, lung, abdomen sounds, flashing lights in the eyes, yadda yadda yadda...

allnurses Guide · Aug 1, 2010

We didn't have any mannequins and only did vital signs and bed baths on each other, so I felt like I might pass out or vomit the first time I walked into a "real" patient's room.

I'd practiced vitals enough times I should have been good to go, but it is completely different doing it for real, and I was so nervous I wrapped the blood pressure cuff from the wrong end started pumping on the bulb and watched a mini-goodyear blimp filling up with air next to the lady's arm hahaa fooof. . . foof . .foof omg! it was truly hilarious! :lol2:

So if by chance your first encounter is with an actual patient you won't die, you may just be mortified for a while. I goes away fairly quickly.

CrazierThanYou · Aug 1, 2010

I've been to the ghetto a time or two. I don't really remember the people assessing one another, though...

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Aug 1, 2010

Mannequins =/= real world experience..

This x923096720376. :up:

In some of my classes (such as med-surg and critical care) we do patient scenarios. We have Sim Man mannequins that can talk to you, have vital signs, you can palpate pulses, listen to lung/heart/bowel sounds, etc etc etc. This really helps us hone on our assessment skills as well as critical thinking, because in most cases something always goes wrong in our scenario and they have us phone the doctor using SBAR, etc etc etc. What I have learned is that the mechanical lung/heart/bowel sounds don't really sound anything like that on a real person.

Inserting IVs on a mannequin is nothing like a real person, as well as inserting a foley cath (where the meatus is LARGELY visible! :lol2: ), inserting an NG, or really any type of nursing procedure. You're not going to be inserting foleys, NG's or doing IV's/blood draws on each other (at least my school doesn't and I live in Ohio!) and sure, practicing on mannequins helps you learn all of the steps involved in performing these procedures, but in the real world, it's different. You'll be thankful that you're assessing on each other, trust me. :twocents:

CrazierThanYou · Aug 1, 2010

This x923096720376.
In some of my classes (such as med-surg and critical care) we do patient scenarios. We have Sim Man mannequins that can talk to you, have vital signs, you can palpate pulses, listen to lung/heart/bowel sounds, etc etc etc. This really helps us hone on our assessment skills as well as critical thinking, because in most cases something always goes wrong in our scenario and they have us phone the doctor using SBAR, etc etc etc. What I have learned is that the mechanical lung/heart/bowel sounds don't really sound anything like that on a real person.
Inserting IVs on a mannequin is nothing like a real person, as well as inserting a foley cath (where the meatus is LARGELY visible! ), inserting an NG, or really any type of nursing procedure. You're not going to be inserting foleys, NG's or doing IV's/blood draws on each other (at least my school doesn't and I live in Ohio!) and sure, practicing on mannequins helps you learn all of the steps involved in performing these procedures, but in the real world, it's different. You'll be thankful that you're assessing on each other, trust me.

This post reminded me of something else. In CNA, the instructor was discussing the "meatus". A girl behind me raised her hand and said "Is that why some guys call their ***** their meat?" When everyone burst out laughing, she looked so dumbfounded and said "No, I'm serious. Meat, meatus. Is that why?"

michigansapphire · Aug 1, 2010

Because of the way our assessment lab section fell together, I had an opposite-sex partner. He never saw anything more private than my bra strap and my bare abdomen to my waist. I never saw anything that his wife could have objected to if she'd been standing in the exam room with us. (He did offer once to take off his shirt for me so I could do lung percussion more easily -- I never would have asked.)

The other piece of assessment is obtaining your patient's history. Our instructor told us we didn't have to tell anything we wanted to keep private, as long as what we said was consistent.

Unknown member · Aug 2, 2010

hello all!

i love this thread because i can certainly see both sides of the coin. i completely understand why we have to assess REAL people in lab...makes perfect sense; however, i also am not very comfortable with my body. i am willing to do whatever is necessary in nursing school but again, i am already feeling anxious about revealing myself. i don't even wear shorts in the summer...let alone to class. i'm not overweight i just have low self-esteem and some people just don't understand how that feels on a daily basis. the way i'm looking at it is this:

1) whatever i do in nursing school IS/WILL BE beneficial to me in the future! nursing instructors do not thrive on making students feel uncomfortable...

2) yes i am uncomfortable with my body, but hey what's the worst that could happen? ok that wicked skinny pretty girl will be like "ew look at her fat" but really...i don't care what she thinks soo oh well! haha

3) MAN UP...it was MY CHOICE to enroll in nursing school NOW I WILL accept what I ASKED FOR

my only REAL concern is those students who do not put 100% into the program. i am willing to allow fellow students to assess/practice on my body BUT if you DONT know what you're doing and you SHOULD know by now...it's going to be hard for me to not throw you under the bus to the instructor. those people who try to pass by the skin of the teeth will NOT be practicing on my body...SORRRRY!

allnurses Guide · Aug 2, 2010

You have dealt with your fears in a healthy way! In the other thread about this a few months ago, some people pointed out that it appears many people see a significance to the assessing each other situation far beyond it's practical value.

I do take issue with it, because it's sort of like an unwritten code. So many people said "how can you expect a patient to allow you to do (fill-in-the-blank-procedure) on you if you aren't willing to go through it yourself?" and "if you have issues with your body image you need to get over it".

If those things are expected to happen they should call it something other than the group assessments. It isn't fair for a person with a scar or a skin condition to have to climb that psychological mountain before they can continue in nursing school when no one told them up front that it would be a requirement I have heard the "option to opt out" argument. I don't believe, based on some of the indignant defenses of the practice based on the unadvertised premises I mentioned, that a student who chose not to participate would be free from negative judgements from classmates.

Medical schools hire professional "models" to help them learn how to do exams on real people before they hit the hospital. Maybe nursing schools could budget that instead of the very expensive interactive mannequins they use. I don't know. Just a thought. Good luck to all the students! :up:

TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP · Aug 2, 2010

Speaking as a guy, I had both same and opposite-gender classmates for opposite-gender partners. I think having both was a valuable experience, as I can guarantee you that not every single one of your patients will be the same gender as you. Guys simply don't have as defined an anatomical reference for taking an apical pulse, while tactile fremitus results are slightly different between the genders - just to name a couple of differences off the top of my head. If you don't practice on "normal" people of both genders, how will you know what to expect and pick up on what's wrong in your actual patients?

ellaballet · Apr 14, 2014

I think its a great experience to practice on each other - you can begin to understand what its like to be on the other side of the bed. Yes, student relationships are different than the nurse/patient relationship. But think of any discomfort you may feel having your classmate seeing you in a sports bra and shorts and remember that the first time you have to do a procedure thats waaay more personal like peri care or putting a catheter in.

Mannekins are great for sim lab, but you're going to be taking care of real people with real, human emotions. Not robots!

sbostonRN · Apr 14, 2014

We practice assessments on each other with loose clothing/tank tops. Everything remains covered. I agree with previous posters that you don't know what's abnormal until you know what's normal. It's actually fun to practice things like percussion and palpating pulses on a healthy person where everything is where it should be.

In my ADN program we practiced shots, foleys and bed baths on mannequins. We also had a sim man where we could practice different scenarios. I didn't learn IV insertion until my first job.