How have your skill checkoffs been??

gillytook · Oct 7, 2008

We usually learn a skill or two, then get checked off on them the next week. They were terrifying first level especially concidering none of our instructors were on the same page. Many times at least one of us would end up in tears. They have gotten easier since. We had our Clinical Proficiency Exams today. We had to do our complete assessment, all meds and any orders in the Kardex plus write out a care plan with three diagnoses in 30 minutes. I passed but it was nerve wracking. I lost one of the ear pieces to my stethoscope, forgot all my paperwork at home. One of my fellow students got so nervous she knocked over a planter breaking it. They were finding pieces all down the hall. I hope this is the last time this semester!

Sk8ermomRN · Oct 7, 2008

Some of our check offs are peer checks...We watch each other give a bed bath, transfer a patient, etc. Others are instructor check offs...vital signs, catheters, injections... The catch is that if you check off a peer on a skill then they fail to perform it properly in clinical practice, you are held responsible as well.

We do have to be checked off on every skill, no choosing from a cup for us, though that is how my sister-in-law did it in her LPN class.

lilo2010 · Oct 7, 2008

Our skill labs are tue/thur! So we learn a skill in one & checkoff the next lab day! So far we have done VS, NG tubes, sterile dressing changes, & Foley catheters! Physical assessment next wk, then on to clinicals! They have been stressful, but our instructors are great!

duranurse · Oct 9, 2008

had my first skills check-off this week. we were checked off on vitals signs, pre and postoperative care, hemovac drains and jackson-pratt drains, sterile dressing change... it was nerve racking for me too, i passed everything!!! the next skills check off is catheters. should be fun. we also started working on how to do care plans today. :nurse:

cardiac~lover · Oct 9, 2008

:nurse:I am enrolled in a local technical college, 4 quarter program, 11 week quarters. Each quarter we get skill demonstrations throughout the quarter and have a week to two weeks to perform them in front of the lab nurses. You get three chances and you are out of the program. First quarter it was Cath male and female, sterile wet to dry dressing, and sterile dry dressing which was a penrose. Second quarter was oral med pass, im injection, which included naming all sites, and subQ, again all sites, and NG. I'm in the third quarter and we have IV cath and IV d/c, IV with saline flushes and IV with piggyback. Not sure about next quarter.

intensity_too · Oct 9, 2008

We have skills lab once a week. We generally learn one skill per week and then test out the next week on that skill.

It's my first semester and we did IM, SQ, ID injections with the naming of sites, male/female cath, bed bath and bed making, oral med passing, and general health assessment.

pharmgirl · Oct 9, 2008

They SUCK! lol, we had our first checkoff this week for IV's, piggybacks, IM, Subq, Intradermal and physical assessment. I did pass but I swear it was the most nerve-racking morning ever. We had stations for each skill and each station also asked us various questions about the procedures and "what ifs" in addition to a random cultural question. Maybe I just don't like the whole role-playing thing and am not good at talking to "Mr. F. Arm" (mr. fake arm), I dont know but they really sucked!! Glad its over and I dont have to re-test.

Dream2BANurse · Oct 10, 2008

We have had a skill validation each week since school started. We have already validated NG tubes, VS, occupied bed making, bed bathing, sterile dressing change, sterile gloving, and catheters are Monday, which is our final skill. I have passed everything but pulse, somehow I managed to be too much off from what my instructor got and I have to re-validate that one next week. Then it's off to clinicals.

VICEDRN, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2008

Ehhh...we have two labs.

The first one sounds a lot like yours. You walk in, pick a skill from hat so to speak. You have 20 minutes to perform the skill. This happens twice a semester.

The second one has two checkoffs. The first one is a head to toe physical. Everyone must do one. The prof checks you off. The second checkoff involves picking one in depth assessment in a similarly random fashion and performing it.

There is a separate vital signs checkoff.

Would love this weekly checkoff business you are all talking about...lol

simplelife4me · Oct 10, 2008

I love skill check off. We only do one per week. Before we do the lab we need to pass a quiz or we can't check of. You are only allowed to miss two questions. This is the most stressful part. I attend a private school so I quess we get more one on one time. First we get to practice what we are going to check off on and then we go into a seperate room with our instructor when we feel confident in our skills. There are only 8 of us in our lab so it all goes smoothly.

laketrash · Oct 10, 2008

They SUCK! lol, we had our first checkoff this week for IV's, piggybacks, IM, Subq, Intradermal and physical assessment. I did pass but I swear it was the most nerve-racking morning ever. We had stations for each skill and each station also asked us various questions about the procedures and "what ifs" in addition to a random cultural question. Maybe I just don't like the whole role-playing thing and am not good at talking to "Mr. F. Arm" (mr. fake arm), I dont know but they really sucked!! Glad its over and I dont have to re-test.

Hey,

Don't ever get as uptight as I did when I had to get a b/p on the instructor who hated me. I was so nervous; I put in on , pumped it up, didn't hear anything and bluffed by spouting out a b/p similar to one I had just heard someone else do, only to be told my this devil from Hades that I didn't have it around her arm. LOL,:chuckle Looking back, I would never let anyone intimidate me that much again but things are different in nsg school. Best of luck to all of you!