Did you have to brush your classmates teeth?

IEDave, ASN, CNA, LVN · May 31, 2012

In my CNA course we had to:
--brush each other's teeth
--shave one of the guys (his face and head)
--feed each other
--weigh each other
--provide nail care on each other
--wash each other's feet
--dress each other (button shirt and pullover shirt)
Bathing/pericare was done on lab manikins.
I think some of it was caught on video and ended up on youtube. LOL

Yep - did all of this during CNA clinicals both on the dummies in the lab and on each other. Because of my facial fur I was the perennial "shaving victim"; did oral care, peri care (fully clothed, natch), transfers, ROM sequences (kept falling asleep when they did ROM on me - so relaxing!), vitals, bed baths, feeding, dressing/undressing (with hospital gowns) - and it still was a pale approximation to what it's like to do it for real on live patients! Got even better when I did my first postmortem care (which I'd never done either in lab or during clinicals) - bit eerie at first, but amazing how fast you adapt.

----- Dave

p.s. I HOPE none of ours ended up on YouTube...

RLtinker, LPN · May 31, 2012

We did the basic ADLs on each other, including bed baths, brushing teeth, shaved each other,bed pans, ect. We used soap and water.And no we didn't clean each others peri areas, we had mannequins for that. We had on a hospital gown over shorts and a tee-shirt. And yep, it felt odd.

buytheshoes11, MSN, RN · May 31, 2012

No, we never had to do this in our skills lab. We assisted our patients, when needed, in the hospital though.

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · May 31, 2012

We did not have to brush each other's teeth, but we did have to give each other bed baths. It was awkward, but you REALLY strived to maintain privacy and dignity!! We also gave each other an injection. That was back in the 80's

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · May 31, 2012

Wow, wearing a Colostomy bag, that's pretty extreme, but quite a learning experience I imagine! sounds like you had an excellent instructor !

nyteshade, BSN · May 31, 2012

We did it for my LPN program. It's not about "skill", it's about knowing what it feels like to be the patient getting your teeth brushed. It is a humbling experience. You'd be surprised how many people take that for granted.

My RN program pretty much skipped this.

JustMe78 · May 31, 2012

In my CNA class there were times our instructor would not witness us performing simple tasks, in order to be checked off on our skills sheet they had to see us do it. So the last week of class after clinicals were over we spent time doing tasks on each other. We had dummies for anything invasive, but most things we took turns participating in for a more realistic experience.

We were not forced to be participates however, that to me seems like crossing a line. Our instructor also volunteered to be the faux patient, so she was not asking us to do anything that she was not willing to do.

loveoutloud · May 31, 2012

We did, lol. It was okay because I got to go with a good friend.

Shelbster · Jun 4, 2012

We had to brush each other's teeth too. It was kind of weird but it only took a couple of minutes and then we were done, so it wasn't so bad.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jun 4, 2012

I was on a nursing schools facebook page and saw pictures of them brushing each others teeth. Is this common to use other students for practice teeth brushing. I think i would feel REALLY uncomfortable with this. And brushing teeth shouldn't really be a skill that we are unfamiliar with... lol

This is nothing ... perineal exams on each other is uncomfortable.

aquarius04 · Jun 4, 2012

That actually happened during my lab last week. We had the dental hygienist students come in and talk to us about the importance of oral care. After we demonstrated brushing another persons teeth.

malestunurse · Jun 4, 2012

I did it. It is something you need to do, brushing someone else's teeth is not the same as brushing your own teeth. Also, if you feel really uncomfortable brushing a class mates teeth try it on your boy/girlfriend just so you get an understanding of what it's like.