Today was my first official day as a nursing student. (whoo-hoo)
Despite my lecture room being absolutely freezing-- it wasn't that bad. We mainly went over the course and spent the last 15 minutes going through the power points. In my head, I was thinking that it was going to be a pretty lax day then.
Later that day I had lab and finally got to wear my uniform (which I was a little too excited about.) Lab was way different. We went straight into skills with little direction. We watched part of a video and then it broke down lol. We had to take blood pressures and I had left my stethoscope at home! Other people were nailing the skills so much faster than myself and I had no clue what I was doing wrong. Thankfully, my instructor came over and did it with me--but I just felt so slow.
Needless to say, I have a lot of practicing to do. I already feel behind in lab.
Anywho, if anyone has had their first day already--how did it go?
my first day in lab was similar with BP stuff and bedside manners. Good news is pretty much every hospital has automated BP cuffs and I dont think i've ever seen someone manually check BP's since I've started clinicals 3 semesters ago.
This is still a skill you need to master. The technology is convenient, but it does break down, and there are the times when what you are seeing on the machine vs. the patient does not match, and you need to verify. Don't be that nurse who has to tell a disbelieving doctor/coworker/manager "sorry, I only did these in nursing school a few times and thought I'd never need to know it after that."
This is still a skill you need to master. The technology is convenient, but it does break down, and there are the times when what you are seeing on the machine vs. the patient does not match, and you need to verify. Don't be that nurse who has to tell a disbelieving doctor/coworker/manager "sorry, I only did these in nursing school a few times and thought I'd never need to know it after that."
Not only that, the clinical site I am at this semester and last only used auto cuffs in ICU and ED. Our med-surg and tele floors require manual bp cuffs. The only difference between that and our first semester is that we don't need to bring our own anymore.
Other people were nailing the skills so much faster than myself and I had no clue what I was doing wrong. Thankfully, my instructor came over and did it with me--but I just felt so slow.
Horseshoe, BSN, RN
5,879 Posts
This is still a skill you need to master. The technology is convenient, but it does break down, and there are the times when what you are seeing on the machine vs. the patient does not match, and you need to verify. Don't be that nurse who has to tell a disbelieving doctor/coworker/manager "sorry, I only did these in nursing school a few times and thought I'd never need to know it after that."