Head to toe assessments on classmates?

BacktotheBeach, ADN, BSN, RN · Sep 7, 2011

We did have to wear shorts and sports bras. You kinda have to get in there to auscultate all areas of the lungs. Our legs and feet had to be exposed to find popliteal and pedal pulses. It wasn't that bad in hindsight. I would shave :)

OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN · Sep 7, 2011

LOl I know i hated it but we did that too but no breast exams but shorts and tanks mostly. Yes, me and my lab partner joked that we shaved our legs for each other :)

rocket surgery · Sep 7, 2011

At least you had a whole semester to get to know your classmates first! Our assessment lab is 1st semester! :eek:

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Sep 7, 2011

We practiced on our classmates, but had to bring someone in for the final (complete head-to-toe). The person could be of the opposite sex so as long as the couple was married. If the student wasn’t married, a person of the same sex was a requirement. We did not have to do breast or testicular exams. The class received a lecture on the content and was given models to palpate for lumps. We had to, as part of our charting; write the characteristics and location of the lumps.

I seriously don’t think a school will “make” someone perform the more private assessment skills as many aren’t comfortable with having it done at a doctor’s office let alone with classmates.

Clovery · Sep 7, 2011

Thanks for the replies!

I was a little bit embarrassed with lifting up my shirt for the apical HR during the first term. But this doesn't sound much worse than that... I guess I'll survive. My belly is covered in stretch marks and I know everyone else with kids probably has them too but I'm still self-conscious about it. AND once it's "jeans weather" I'll totally go a week without shaving my legs. oh well. at least my husband will like it

allnurses Guide · Sep 7, 2011

Shorts, sports bra and pt gown; learning to expose and drape appropriately is part of learning assessment. Breast and genitalia are "deferred".

I remind students to remember the feeling of loss of control and apply it to how their patients are feeling. But there really isn't a better way to get to learn how to do all the hands on things we do; and it is in a controlled and (hopefully) mostly private situation. Male and female pairings don't matter in a good many of my scenarios; eyes, ears, ankles are not that intimate of exams. The weeks we do heart, lung and abd are the most intrusive; I let students choose their own partners.

nurse4forever · Sep 7, 2011

At least you had a whole semester to get to know your classmates first! Our assessment lab is 1st semester!

It's my 2nd week and our assessment lab is tomorrow!

Bob_N_VA · Sep 7, 2011

It's not bad, you wear shorts and a t-shirt. College girls seem to wear less than that during the summer. Since I was the only guy in class, my shirt came off so they practiced lungs and heart on me. At 54 years old, I don't think it was much of a thrill for anybody, including me, but if it helps the class, I'm all for it. You'll have fun with it, just relax.

JenniferWilson74 · Sep 8, 2011

I am three weeks into my first semester and we've already done the head to to assessment, but it didn't require removal of clothes. Next week we do sponge baths on each other, where we have to wear a bathing suit or shorts and a tank top. For the chest asculations, our professor said we should wear tank tops. Our professor also said that when she was in school to become a nurse practitioner, they had to perform rectal exams and do pap smears on each other, and because there was only one guy in their class, all the women had to do a scrotal exam on him. It kinda makes the sponge bath seem not so bad.

venti · Sep 8, 2011

Wow, I stumbled into this thread and now I'm freaking out a bit. I don't start the program until January, but I had no idea we'd be practicing on each other to that sort of level. I'm a little worried. I have no problem whatsoever working on another person, however disrobed, but I'm extremely private about my body. I NEVER wear shorts or a tank top in public. And all these assessments are done in the classroom/lab setting, not one on one? Geez, as if I needed another aspect of the nursing program to stress myself over...

JenniferWilson74 · Sep 8, 2011

I don't know how it is at other schools, but at my school you pick the person you want to work with. When you are doing the physical assessments you are in a hospital like setting and we always pull the curtain around so you and your partner have privacy. As I understand it for the sponge bath, when you do the skills check off with the instructor, you, your partner, and the instructor go in a private "hospital" room and that is where the sponge bath takes place. As far as the anxiety goes, all I can tell you is that you are not alone. I have a lot of body issues but one of the things that helps me is remembering that other people have body issues too. I also found a great lab partner that I feel comfortable with. I hope that helps :)