Not getting taught anything in labs!!

L&D_2b · May 30, 2008

Hi, I just finished the intermediate & advanced skills in our foundations books, we had 4 hours of lab time scheduled everyday when we were reading the foundations book. BUT, the only thing we were shown in the lab was blood glucose and silly little things. We never got a chance to do anything hands on! Is this normal? I really feel short changed, I thought that we should have practiced each skill before we took the written test. Well, we never did & now I start clinicals next week! I feel like I don't know anything! I am soo stressed out.
Melissa

You will learn more in clinicals. I rarely learn anything great in lab. Every nursing skill I currently possess, I learned "hands on" in clinicals. Don't worry, you will be fine.

--Marci

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 30, 2008

Seems to me that the person(s) to be asking this question of is the people who run your nursing classes. I'm not trying to be mean here, but being in nursing school requires you to take some initiative and do some things on your own. You don't need an instructor to OK your practicing a procedure. And the instructors can't be everywhere at all times. Get a buddy, if you need one, go to a corner of the lab and practice on your own.

Don't know if you've heard this before, but I worked for many years in a teaching hospital. Here is what they tell the medical students and residents about learning procedures, and believe me, they have to learn to do some scary stuff.

Watch one. Do one. Teach one.

According to that philosophy it sounds like you are right on track. Now, I will tell you this, there were lazy medical students who never bothered to look for patients to practice their newly learned procedures on and I wouldn't want them for my doctor. Then, there were the ones who would come up to us and want to be notified when we heard that this or that procedure was being planned so they could get in on it. Those are the guys I want for a doc because they are taking the effort and care to learn their craft.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jun 1, 2008

Hi, I just finished the intermediate & advanced skills in our foundations books, we had 4 hours of lab time scheduled everyday when we were reading the foundations book. BUT, the only thing we were shown in the lab was blood glucose and silly little things. We never got a chance to do anything hands on! Is this normal? I really feel short changed, I thought that we should have practiced each skill before we took the written test. Well, we never did & now I start clinicals next week! I feel like I don't know anything! I am soo stressed out.
Melissa

Do you have an instructor that works the labs and helps you to practice skills? We had a woman in our lab that we made appointments for skill review. She was really great! I made an appointment with her each day I was off to learn a new skill and after she showed me, I used to then practice independently, with the notes she provided.

Not sure about your program, but most of them have performance evaluations where you have to be checked off for demonstrating how to keep a sterile field from getting contaminated, how to place in a foley, suctioning, etc... and if a student failed, they had to do it again. Fail twice, then, they may be thrown out of the program. Also, check out Amazon for virtual excursions, where they demonstrate on a CD ROM for you to do at home, if necessary. Good luck!

akanini, MSN, RN · Jun 1, 2008

Do you have an instructor that works the labs and helps you to practice skills? We had a woman in our lab that we made appointments for skill review.
We have the same type of instructor and I'm glad I'm not alone.
I REALLY was starting to think I was weird for just memorizing things for exams and then it going out the door. With so much to learn in LPN school and in an 11 month course, is it normal to feel this way? I do see some illness, signs and symptoms in clincial but will things become more clear once I actually start working as a LPN?

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jun 1, 2008

Do you have an instructor that works the labs and helps you to practice skills? We had a woman in our lab that we made appointments for skill review.
We have the same type of instructor and I'm glad I'm not alone.
I REALLY was starting to think I was weird for just memorizing things for exams and then it going out the door. With so much to learn in LPN school and in an 11 month course, is it normal to feel this way? I do see some illness, signs and symptoms in clincial but will things become more clear once I actually start working as a LPN?
Yes, it does come together in time. There is no way that a new nurse will remember each and every detail when they graduate and start working. You apply as you go along. You will learn new things that will shock you, and also from observation. I had my license since 2006, and I still don't think I know enough. However, I am told very often how intelligent I am (I still don't see it the way that they do), and many have thought that I am an RN. But when I compare how far I have come from starting school to now, I can say that I did learn a great deal, and I will continue to learn.
I strongly advise that you continue to read when you graduate, whether you decide to go further in school or not. It should be the rule, rather than the exception that LPNS are very smart, knowledgable and resourceful nurses. Just learn a piece at a time, for now, and it will all come together. You'd be surprized on how many times you may come across something and the voice of your professor starts haunting you on things that you felt were silly at that time. Plus, the more observant you are and the more you pitch in, the more doors open for you. There may be an employer watching you when you don't realize it that just may say "Pay for this person to go for the RN on our tab" because you try your best.