Just wanted to know if any other ns omit the adl's from the curriculum. One of my instructors at my school said that nurses will not do these anyway so they don't teach them. By ADL, I mean activities of daily living such as bathing, feeding, toileting, dressing, transferring, changing briefs....
I feel sorry for those who do not have this training because I work in a LTC facility and just last Sunday, a nurse had to change a patient's dressing. Being that the person had a BM, she had to clean him and then change his dressing and she changed his linens. If a nurse is working in ICU, he/she may have to provide total care to the patient and then what are they going to do if they don't have experience in this? They will get chewed up and spit out by the more experienced nurses because they will expect for them to know how to do this.
So I was just wondering, are most schools like this?
why does one need to be "taught" how to do normal things you've done since you were born? I mean, seriously, a little "here's the linens, now change the bed "our way"" and that's it. Good grief people. My school skimmed them, but I didnt feel I needed a semester long class on how to change a bed or dress someone, etc. MUCH more to learn about, like cardiac drugs and all their dang interactions, etc.... This isn't rocket science... yet.
Richard
PS: 2nd semester of BSN program, 1st real clinicals, we did "total patient care" for one patient each clinical day, including bed bath, shave (if requested), shampoo, change bed, up to PT, up to BR, pass meds.... so our RNs and aides LOVED us coming as well.
The learning of ADLs is important, not only for the obvious reasons, but because for many people, this is their first opportunity to do hands-on care of any sort on other adults.
When I was in nursing school, this was a crucial rite of passage--learning how to touch another adult in a therapeutic manner. There were a few of us in the class who had been CNAs or LPNs, but most had held office jobs or worked in retail or in food service. It was a real revelation for these folks to think of bathing patients, transferring them, helping them turn in bed, and assisting them with toileting and dressing.
The students needed the lab time to become accustomed to touching other adults without breaking out in the giggles or experiencing stage fright.
And then they needed time to learn how to translate the ADLs they were used to doing on themselves to assisting someone else. Things like transferring and toileting another person don't have a good frame of reference in our own lives because doing them for someone else is so different.
If ADLs are done improperly or not at all, you could be looking at skin breakdown, patient falls, and nurse injuries, among other things.
As far as not needing to know ADLs because we'll be delegating them--that seems like a cop-out. We all need to know how to do them, and do them properly. Delegation doesn't cut it when your patient needs a bedpan or bedside commode now and the CNA has seven people ahead of her.
This is such a basic and foundational part of our skills. I can certainly understand nursing programs requiring that students come into the program with CNA qualification, but if that isn't the case, these skills need to be covered in the early part of the curriculum. To write them off as "things nurses don't need to know" is unrealistic and just asking for trouble.
At our school you have to have passed CNA (where they teach the basic skills) before you can apply to the nursing program.
The school that I go to provides the BNA (Basic Nursing Assistant) course the month before the program starts for those who do not already have the skills. Then they are allowed to gain part time employment at the hospital while going to school. But it is required for us before we begin the RN program also.
richardjboro1
253 Posts
why does one need to be "taught" how to do normal things you've done since you were born? I mean, seriously, a little "here's the linens, now change the bed "our way"" and that's it. Good grief people. My school skimmed them, but I didnt feel I needed a semester long class on how to change a bed or dress someone, etc. MUCH more to learn about, like cardiac drugs and all their dang interactions, etc.... This isn't rocket science... yet.
Richard
PS: 2nd semester of BSN program, 1st real clinicals, we did "total patient care" for one patient each clinical day, including bed bath, shave (if requested), shampoo, change bed, up to PT, up to BR, pass meds.... so our RNs and aides LOVED us coming as well.