Learning new skills independently - typical?

[Clovery]

I'm wondering if other schools are like this as well...

We're in the third semester (ADN) and previously we had a lab class after our lecture, where we would learn skills and prepare for a practicum. Now that we're "upper level students" we don't have a lab class anymore. We have a practicum where we're tested on 3 skills, for which we receive no formal instruction. We're supposed to watch videos & read our manual, then go into open lab to practice. Then we have a practicum. There's an assistant in open lab, who may or may not be available to help us (she's there for ALL of the nursing students and is often very busy, especially with the first year students).

So we only have a couple of weeks before our practicum to go into the lab and master 3 skills on our own - changing an ostomy appliance, central venous catheter care, and administering IV meds by intermittent infusion. I'm not whining, but it seems odd to me that we're expected to learn this completely from a video and manual. Is it like this at your school too?

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I work in hospital education and find this a little difficult to comprehend myself. Perhaps the Dean is not aware that another lab nurse is needed. If you know what the skills are in advance you can try to do them in clinical. Otherwise, I would partner with a classmate, have my checklist there and both of you go over each step one at a time. Critique one another. Good luck!

[RN/Mom]

Do we go to the same school, or something?

I'm also in an ADN program, and what you're describing sounds like how it's done at my school. We read through it, watch a video, then practice it in skills lab on our own. The lady who mans our skills lab is often busy with the first year students, too, but we can make appointments with her if we need extra help.