I have to be bathed by my classmate???

Nursing Students General Students

Published

: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 :uhoh3:

They announced that we'd be doing bed baths on each other at our welcome tea last Friday. You should have heard the murmur go through the room when that came out of our advisor's mouth! I was a little surprised at the shocked look on everyone's faces... I mean, come on people - like the instructor said, "this is what nurses do - take care of people." Of course, the majority of my class is all so young... :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

We did somthing similar. We wore bathing suits or sports bra and heavy duty undies. Just get over it, and do it. The reason why they are doing this is to put you in the position of the pt. Let me tell you an experience I had. I was working one day I am an RN and had a student nurse under me this particular day. I walked in the room she had my pt laid out nude no bath blanket or anything. exposed to the world. I helped the student nurse, but after this experience I asked if she thought she gave good care to her pt. so I went on to tell her that what if you were my pt and I had you laid out for the whole world to see exposed, whether or not the door is closed. Laying naked with nothing on relying on your caregiver to keep your dignity intact. So when giving your classmates a sponge bath, keep in mind respect for the individual, cover up body parts not being washed, and keeping pt warm and dry. also when putting on a new night gown I always unsnap the old one and lay the new one on top, and put the new one on and pull the old one from underneath. If you just remember one thing the pt you are caring for , you treat them how you would want yourself or loved one cared for and I can guarantee a happy pt and family. preserving a pt dignity is just as important as any nursing duty.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You know - I always say that you tend to lose any and all modesty you have once you've given birth, so I guess you Moms know what I'm talking about. Really not too worried about it. Maybe just consider it a rite of initiation. :D

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i would not do it. that is what the patients are for. you can learn how to care for the person as well as how to respond to them. if i had to be in your class all i would be thinkin is "is it over yet" what is that going to teach me? best of luck :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
i would not do it. that is what the patients are for. you can learn how to care for the person as well as how to respond to them. if i had to be in your class all i would be thinkin is "is it over yet" what is that going to teach me? best of luck :)
serious question...so what are you going to do if or when they asked you to give a classmate a spongebath. what were/are the alternatives?
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in orthopaedics, perioperative.

IMHO nursing school is not nursing. It is bootcamp. You have to pick your battles. A lot of stuff you will do in nursing school will seem stupid and pointless at times and you may be left wondering why you ever wanted to go to nursing school and what you are learning by doing these stupid exercises. But you just have to do some of it in order to get through school. When you graduate, you will remember why you wanted to be a nurse and hopefully love nursing again, and forget about the stupid things from nursing school. Bathing each other is just a one-time thing, right? I'd just go with it and get it over with. Now, if ever someone wanted me to do a breast exam on another student for purely "learning" purposes, then I would chose to take a stand and argue. But I don't see that happenning anytime soon where I am.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It's not as bad as doing Paps on each other. We had to do that as part of my NP training.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I just don't understand what the big deal is. This is so not an issue. If you are told to give your fellow student a bed bath than that is what you do. There is an art to giving a bed bath and keeping the patient covered and warm at the same time. You owe that to your patients. We have done fingersticks and started IV's on each other as well in school. It is so much better practicing your skill on another person than a mannequin.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.

We did bed baths on each other also. We wore bathing suits. It was, as the last poster mentioned, a non-issue. That's what bath blankets are for. :) There is an art to bathing a person in bed, and when you are bathing a real live person as opposed to a mannequin, you have some really great feedback (water temp, did you forget to pull the bath blanket back up, etc.)

Complaining about it will probably not help at all and you will brand yourself. This is the first of many experiences in nursing school where you aren't going to like it and may not see the point, but trust me, if you have the right attitude everything can be a learning experience.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
It's not as bad as doing Paps on each other. We had to do that as part of my NP training.

NO WAY!!! :uhoh21:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.
IMHO nursing school is not nursing. It is bootcamp. You have to pick your battles. A lot of stuff you will do in nursing school will seem stupid and pointless at times and you may be left wondering why you ever wanted to go to nursing school and what you are learning by doing these stupid exercises. But you just have to do some of it in order to get through school. When you graduate, you will remember why you wanted to be a nurse and hopefully love nursing again, and forget about the stupid things from nursing school. Bathing each other is just a one-time thing, right? I'd just go with it and get it over with. Now, if ever someone wanted me to do a breast exam on another student for purely "learning" purposes, then I would chose to take a stand and argue. But I don't see that happenning anytime soon where I am.

I dunno abot this. Picking your battles? Stupid exercises? It is all part of training for patient care is it not? Same as learning to put in a Foley, range of motion, injections, etc. etc. etc. It's all part of the education :confused: I don't see the point of raising a fuss with what procedures you just have to learn as part of being a student.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
It's not as bad as doing Paps on each other. We had to do that as part of my NP training.

:idea: I think I'll take the bath!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment