Did anybody buy a nursing mannikin to practice skills at home?

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I took a semester off because I was probably going to fail clinical. It was my first semester of my senior year and I was doing well in the theory course but not doing well on the clinical.

I am retaking that course again in the Fall 2014 but besides for taking up

a job as a CNA in a long-term care facility- I have not had the chance to do any of my RN nursing skills. I'm scared that come time to retake the course and its clinical, I will be rusty

and not do well again.

So, I thought it would be an interesting idea to purchase one of those nursing mannikins

like in the nursing lab. I think it would be neat to have my very own mannikin to practice skills on.

What do you guys think of this idea? Do you recommend this? Or, if you guys have known someone who failed out on their second to last semester of a BSN program but retook it and succeeded, could you tell me what they did to turn things around the 2nd time?

Specializes in ER.

Is it even legal to purchase IV supplies without a prescription?

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Is it even legal to purchase IV supplies without a prescription?

I don't know about everyone else but we got a bag full of stuff at the beginning of our nursing classes. It has primary and secondary tubing, IV start kits, IV bags, syringes, sterile gloves, fake insulin (water and cloudy water LOL), trach care kit, wound care kit, trach suction kit, hep locks, butterflies, foley kit, etc in it. None of it is intended (and is clearly marked!) to use on a real person. I would just refill the stuff as I used it (like the fake insulin and IV bag).

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Practice with the real thing like your siblings, pets, kids, and significant other.

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Specializes in LTC, Med-surg.
Ouch! I would never, ever, ever spend that kind of money to buy a manikin. Just my personal opinion, but seems like a wasteful extravagance. What am I paying tuition and fees for if I have to buy my own dummy?!

I can always sell it back on amazon later...

I usually get 60-90% of the money I spent back when I re-sell it.

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I made one. I bought some cheap fabric, traced an outline of one of my kids, and sewed it and stuffed it. (What didn't hold since my sewing skills stink I duck taped.) I bought some cheap plastic hose tubing like you use for a kitchen sink at the hardware store. I taped that between the legs to use for catheter insertion. I printed out a picture of a face and used clear tape to tape it to it's head. I also taped tubing to the face for NG tube insertion. I cut a whole in it's neck for trach suctioning practice as well. I took gloves and stuffed them for the hands and socks for the feet. I have used it a lot. It looks very tacky, but works. My 3 year old carries the creepy thing around and calls it her "big dolly" so lots of multi-use out of it for me.

Here's a picture of Central Hospital AKA my kitchen table.

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I made one. I bought some cheap fabric, traced an outline of one of my kids, and sewed it and stuffed it. (What didn't hold since my sewing skills stink I duck taped.) I bought some cheap plastic hose tubing like you use for a kitchen sink at the hardware store. I taped that between the legs to use for catheter insertion. I printed out a picture of a face and used clear tape to tape it to it's head. I also taped tubing to the face for NG tube insertion. I cut a whole in it's neck for trach suctioning practice as well. I took gloves and stuffed them for the hands and socks for the feet. I have used it a lot. It looks very tacky, but works. My 3 year old carries the creepy thing around and calls it her "big dolly" so lots of multi-use out of it for me.

Here's a picture of Central Hospital AKA my kitchen table.

Now THAT is awesome! :D

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Huh I didn't realize you could sell that kind of thing back to amazon.

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Specializes in LAD.

I wouldn't recommend that. That money could be used towards something better. Just practice non invasive skills on family members lol if they allow it. I practiced reconstituting with salt and pepper shakers and injecting beach towels. Hey...we have to do what we gotta do:)

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
as an older nurse let me remind you that technical skills are the easiet part of nursing. If you know the reasons why you are doing it, and can recite the steps of the process, you are probably good to go. It is more important that you work on critical thinking than technical skills.

I think THIS is the most important point to consider. A monkey can learn how to insert an IV. But a real nurse knows how to assess an IV site, consider all factors when choosing a site and gauge, and when to question an order. Skills can be learned on the job. Focus more on understanding the material and how to think critically than on the skills. So many students get so focused on the skills, but skills aren't what make you a nurse.

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Specializes in ER.
I don't know about everyone else but we got a bag full of stuff at the beginning of our nursing classes. It has primary and secondary tubing, IV start kits, IV bags, syringes, sterile gloves, fake insulin (water and cloudy water LOL), trach care kit, wound care kit, trach suction kit, hep locks, butterflies, foley kit, etc in it. None of it is intended (and is clearly marked!) to use on a real person. I would just refill the stuff as I used it (like the fake insulin and IV bag).

We had a few of the items but they were required to be kept in the lab. I thought one time I was reading the packing of the IV supplies and it said not legal to own without prescription. I may be wrong though.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
We had a few of the items but they were required to be kept in the lab. I thought one time I was reading the packing of the IV supplies and it said not legal to own without prescription. I may be wrong though.

This is true. Nursing departments must have a doctor that can provide an order for the supplies they order (and sometimes distribute). I ran a skills lab for a program, and we had to have all of that in order for when we ordered supplies. It wasn't a huge thing, but there was an MD order somewhere in the mix. :)

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

My nursing school had the most terrifying medical dummies EVER. It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever purchase one of them to practice on. I'm pretty sure I'd hear creaking floorboards and heavy breathing during the night. Pictured: one of our actual dummies/nightmare fuel. We called him Gary Busey (but only when he was out of earshot, out of pure fear).

My advice? Stick with youtube videos for the basics.

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