I have to be bathed by my classmate???

[Saved_by_Grace]

:imbar Ok call me old fashioned but I am kind of concerned. I had my nursing orientation today, and I was informed that as part of one of my practical nursing classes I will have to be sponge bathed by one of my classmates and in turn need to sponge bathe a classmate. Ok fine. No worries. HOWEVER, the next breath was, you will have to strip down to your underwear only and your classmate will drape you and sponge bathe you and vice versa. I understand that as a nurse I will give sponge baths to patients and I have no problem with that. But one of my classmates that I am going to spend hours and hours with for the next 2 years bathing me is a whole other story! True, like the instructor said it lets you know first hand how the patient will feel while you are abthing them, so you will want to treat them with dignity but being an overweight gal I am uncomfortable with this because I will have to look at these classmates for the next 2 years. Did anyone else ever do this as part of their curriculum? I don't mean to freak out but I never heard of this. They can stick me with all the needles they want for practice, but bathe the mannequins...lol

[linfull]

We did not do sponge baths but I think that was due more to the messiness than out of modesty. We did do exams on each other in "lab" which involved stripping down to the underwear and putting a johnnie on over it. It felt a little weird at first to let all those sweet young thangs see my middle-aged flab and gut but I figured if they could look at that and not lose their lunch then I could deal with it too... I will add that a batch of brand new underwear was purchased and that the old legs got shaved more religiously than at any other time before or since!

:roll :roll :roll

[ItsyBitsySpider, BSN, RN]

There is absolutely no way I would participate in this. Since when does "not rocking the boat" get anyone anywhere? If you feel strongly about this, there is a way to go about letting the right people know without burning bridges or being marked as a bad student. I still don't get how this will help you be a better nurse in any way. Good luck to you!

[jenrninmi, MSN, RN]

I heard we would have to inject each other with saline. Is it no longer allowed?

We practiced injections on eachother just this past year.

[truern]

Keep your eyes on your goal...and suck it up :chuckle

jmho, but it pays to fly under the radar

[Nurse_Ben]

The guys in my class had to wear shorts and gave eachother bed baths w/ backrubs and all. It was kinda weird. I think the girls were more worried than us though.

[twarlik]

Keep your eyes on your goal...and suck it up :chuckle

jmho, but it pays to fly under the radar

Yes! I totally agree! Just do it and get it over with!

When we did baths during the first semester, I ended up paired with a girl. We just chatted the whole time and before I knew it, it was over. Have fun with this because it will be one of the easiest things you learn in nursing school!

[epg_pei]

Bed baths, SC and IM injections, physical assessments...I figured, you're going to see and be exposed to a lot more than that in your career, so you might as well get used to it asap

[Energizer Bunny]

I'm at the point where I don't really care what I have to do as long as it helps me learn how to do what I need to do to pass. DId that make sense? I'm tired.......

[debblynn13]

Ok, so I'm not sure bathing your classmate is that important to do. But I do believe doing health assessments on a classmate is. I have used a mannaquin, and used a real person. Gee the real person was different, *grin*. With a mannaquin you don't understand how each body is different, nooks and crannies, how to assess a real body for moles and sores, finding heart beats ect ect. Maybe part of the bathing your classmate is to teach you those same things. That every person is different, plus your classmate can tell you what makes them uncomfortable or maybe help you find a better way to do something, so in the end you are better with patients that won't tell you those things.

And yes the first time you are that "close" to a classmate it is uncomfortable, but pretty soon you will be telling them to lift their boob out of the way so you can find that heartbeat a bit easier...(never say that with an instructor around..*snicker*)

just something to consider

Debblynn

[HU_nurse]

While I agree that after a while you get a lot more comfortable with your fellow classmates, it is still quite embarrasing to receive a bath by them. I mean, how hard can it be to bathe a pt? Its really just something you gotta learn on the job...

[Rhoresmith]

Bathing a patient is not that easy, if you have someone to sick to move and you have IV lines and feeding tubes and O2 tubes in and they are contracted and have skin ulcers or sores and then in the middle they have a BM it can be a very difficult thing to do and the whole time maintain the patinets privacy and move quickly cause you have there head flat and change the linen at the same time. Baths are also great times for you to assess your patient from head to toe so you know what is going on with them. I feel skin intergrity is one of the more important parts of patient care especially when caring for the elderly or someone that is in critical condition. I did hospice care for 4 years and here you have someone in pain from cancer you don't want them to have any skin problems either. EVERYTHING in nursing is important because if all leads to good patient care

[becca.utns]

When I had to do this I remember thinking, "OMG, like I don't know how to give someone a bath, is this necessary?" But now after graduating, I think it is actually a good idea! You really learn how important it is to shut the door and draw the curtain, as well as to keep the patient draped and warm and making sure the water was warm. After working in the hospitals with some nurses I wish everyone had to do this so they would remember the 'important little things'.

It really was not a big deal at all considering we also did breast exams and palpated for femoral pulses during our head to toe exam, started IV's, gave SC injections, and drew blood. It is all a learning experience.