Help with Clinical Nursing Skills

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Hi All,

I haven't posted before but have been following for awhile and gaining so much from this site. At 45 years old I am just entering the world of healthcare. I'm in month 3 of LPN school and we will begin clinicals in January. I feel really unprepared and could use some advice. In school our teachers show us a skill, send us to lab to practice-practice and then check us off on it.

I am not the kind of learner that can do that so I limp through it with minimal retention. If I could find a "bulleted step list" I would be prepared before class and could practice afterwards, our books go into the skills but then out instructors tells us the book isn't quite right and to do it another way, I cant retain that amount of info without mulling it over myself. My grades are excellent and I'm a hardworker but I cant seem to find a source of clear information to learn these skills. The other students just seem to roll with it. Our instructors keep telling us we need to perfect these skills but I cant get the direction I need from them so I'm hoping you all might give me some tips or point me to a resource.

Thanks so much for your time!

Katvee

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If you are only 3 mos in wouldn't they just be teaching you vital signs and can skills? what I would suggest you do is team up with one or more students from you class and ask if they can help and maybe use the skills lab ORRR youtube it. When I was finishing up 2nd qtr we had to take a skills test on catheters and trach care and wound care etc. and some of us were not fortunate to experience it in clinicals so before we took the test we just youtubed the skills just for a refresher and passed with flying colors. hope that helped!!

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**CNA**

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Our study guide/workbooks that went with the fundamentals text included skills check lists. The online access code for the text included links to PDF versions of the skills check lists plus often links to skills videos.

I believe there is a DVD/cd rom series called Taylor's Clinical Skills that some skills offer as a supplemental text/resource that has video demonstrations.

If you go the you tube route choose scholarly sources like schools of nursing, text book publishers like Mosby. & Elseiver rather than Bob's Backyard Clinical Channel ;)

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
**CNA**

AshleySPN may i ask what school you are attending for LPN and would you recommend them to others?

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I go to jersey college school of nursing in ewing, nj. We have 4 branches of my college and yes i would reccomend others to atttend if they are willing to work hard and dedicate the time. the program is no joke and its a 98% pass rate on the NCLEX. they also offer a lpn to RN Bridge and are working on having a BSN program as well. hope that helps :))

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Thanks for the advice, Ashley & JustBeachy. It helps to hear from others who are or have been there and I really appreciate your time. Your tips were great, I'll check them out. Best of luck to you both!

Katvee

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There should be a checkoff list available somewhere for you to print off or make copies of...instructors have to have a check off sheet they use to record that u have passed those mandatory skills...get one and practice the steps...before long it will get easier for you....don't pass up the opportunity to really learn those skills...so far I have inserted NG tube, foleys, 3 IV,s, feeding tubes, passing med through peg tubes, etc...on real patients. Ask your instructors, they are there to help..my instructor went in with me to officially check off on every one of these skills...nerve racking? YES! But if you at least show them that u are confident in the steps they will help you with the nerves... Good luck!

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This is the book that got me through all my practical exams in nursing school Clinical Nursing Skills: Basic to Advanced Skills (7th Edition): Sandra F. Smith, Donna J. Duell RN MS, Barbara C. Martin: 9780132243551: Amazon.com: Books

Even if your professor wants to see things slightly different from the book, if you think the procedure through logically you will internalize it better. Most important to any of the procedures you learn will be infection control. Pay careful attention to which hand is clean and which hand is dirty and you'll understand that most of the steps you are taking involve avoiding contamination.

Everyone does things a little differently so your professor is not likely to follow the same steps as a book, but if you take notes during the demonstration, use the book as a guide, think things through, and practice with your classmates you are definitely on the right track.

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There is a Delmars Basic Nursing Skills DVD-ROM on ebay for $79.99. It's usually really expensive. (People ask over $150 for it) Is it worth it? Are there similar DVDs out there? I'm more of a visual learner.

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dont go into a panic over skill checkoffs, if you didnt get a good view of the teacher doing it, you will get it fine when you practice in the lab with your checkoff sheet, but i would say suction/ng tube was about the only tricky one.

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Hi Katvee,

I'm 49 and graduated from the LVN program this year, took my NCLEX and found out I passed a couple of weeks ago. I felt the same as you, I was so overwhelmed, and in skills lab I felt lost. My instructors seemed to concentrate more on the written steps in our workbooks and our memorization (which like you, I am horrible at retaining information) of each step, rather than the actual skill itself.... so when clinicals came around I felt lost. Needless to say, I got through it with some good instructors. What helped me a lot was watching You tube videos of all the clinical skills, there are some really good one's out there. If you're like me, I learn from visuals rather than reading information from a book.Also I have books such as "Nursing Procedures , made Incredibly Easy" published by Springhouse that I found on Amazon used for really cheap...this book was really helpful even though it pertains to RN's it helps the LVN/LPN as well. Good luck to you, I can tell that you're going to be a wonderful, compassionate nurse:cat:

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