Were there any nursing skills that you didn't get to do in nursing school?

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

So you've done some skills once or twice... and you've never done some. That sounds typical of any nursing program. You will be learning your skills once you get on the job. What I learned in nursing school is sooo little compared to what I've learned on the job. You will realize this once you've been a nurse for a while.

Right now, everything that you've learned has been under the watchful eye of your preceptor. Once you are a nurse, working in a hospital or nursing home, you will have to do it on your own. If you don't know how to do something, have someone show you once. Then, take out the policy and procedures and make sure you know how to do it correctly according to the hospital policy. You will learn it faster and better if you are forced to do it yourself. If you're like me, you'll only have to look at the policy once, and then you will remember it by doing it.

You will learn what you need to know once you start working. :)

I know that in nursing school I only changed one central line dressing,, and I NEVER started an IV in school, except for on the dummy arm. Once I got on the job, I HAD to learn how to start an IV.. it took a few times, but I got the hang of it. Don't get me wrong, it was scary, but not anymore. I worry more about whether I will find a vein than if I will blow the vein.

Aneroo, LPN · Mar 11, 2009

See one, do one, teach one!!!

When you begin orientation, it should be part of a checkoff list you have to complete to show you're competent enough to work there (you show you can do skills as you go).

I didn't start a foley until I was a nurse.

NeosynephRN · Mar 11, 2009

Some days I do not feel like I learned any skills in school....

luvmy2angels · Mar 11, 2009

I agree that most of the skills i learned on the job. I had done plenty of straight caths but it was MONTHS after i graduated until i got a foley to do! Wherever you go they should have a policy & procedure manual to help you get through some skills if there isn't anyone able to help you. It wasn't until i got into home health that i learned how to do nephro tubes, trach care, and a TON of wound care that i didn't even know existed!! Nursing is one of those professions were we are constantly learning. We learn to do one procedure a certain way and then a year or months later they change the way it is to be done etc....keeps thing interesting!! Good Luck to you!!! )

Chaya, ASN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

Never started IV's or placed an NG tube.

hpygrl01 · Mar 11, 2009

wow, I am only a 2nd termer, and my instructor made sure we got to do trache care, insert foley's and straight caths, sub-cu injections, start piggy backs and regular I.V.'s, wound care, lots of stuff. I had a great clinical instructor. She really made sure we did alot.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Mar 11, 2009

Schools in my area don't teach IV starts. I never inserted a foley (though I removed one), changed a dressing, maintained an IV site, used an IV pump (though I can set a drip rate manually), used a bladder scan, used a doppler, or administered oxygen.

azhiker96, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

There are lots of things I didn't do until after I started working in my area. I still learn new things. A partial list is extubate a pt, bag a pt, chest compressions, d/c epidural catheter, assist with bone marrow bx, repack dialysis catheter, d/c arterial line, setup/adjust nipride drip, push D50. Most things only take once or twice to get comfortable. The biggest thing to learn is who your resources are when you encounter something new. Usually you can ask your CM or another nurse on your unit.

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

One of the biggest skills I never got to "practice" in school was NG tubes (all that more important now since we intubate a lot folks or see a lot of GI bleeds in the ED).

My baptism by fire was brutal - the first NG I ever did was on a anxious, unco-operative 7 year old during my Senior year in school! But I'm glad I did it though... needless to say I had a kickass instructor for my Peds rotation (and to this day, I prefer doing NGs on kids and young folk than the elderly :uhoh21: )

As azhiker mentions - lots of skills weren't "taught" to me in school (other than the theoritical aspects of it). One learns more on the job (just like an apprentice).

My advice - make sure you have a good preceptor. Failing that, find an 'old hand' on your unit and stick to them like mud on a pig. They will teach you things no textbook, no course can ever touch...

cheers,

diane227, LPN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

No, I had a chance to do almost everything but it was because I worked as a student nurse in a large hospital part time while I was in school. The nurses I worked with, all over the hospital, let me do everything. One of the charge nurses on 3-11 let me go around with her on her med pass and give all the meds, including IV, IM and SQ. She was right at my side. This was 31 years ago and I can never thank her enough for teaching me more that I learned in school.

swirlygirl · Mar 11, 2009

I did pretty much all of my skills during nursing school, except trach care. I only did that for the first time last week - and I've been a RN since 2002!!!

During nursing school, we had a few really good clinical instructors that actually worked as CRNP's at the facility that we did our clinicals at, so they knew alot of other nurses in other departments and they would call them and ask them if they were going to be doing any skills that day that some of us had not done yet.