Nudity?

[tlp514]

Hi!

Alright, so I heard from someone that while she was in nursing school she had to strip down, do physical exams and then be naked for the rest of the class! I'm not a nursing student yet, but this scared me. I'm not comfortable with my body and plus there are guys in these classes. I don't know whether to believe it or not. Can anyone tell me if you had to do this? I'm really freaked out.

Thanks!

[ParamedicFNPwantabe]

We did a phlebotomy rotation and the the phlebotomist made me draw from him before touching a patient. You learn a lot from live draws/sticks.

Yes you do. You learn how skin tension feels. You learn to feel the the pop as you enter the vein. If doing it right you learn to palpate and feel the vein to see if it is flat or if it has valves. You also learn that palpation is better than sight for finding good vein access.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

We did a phlebotomy rotation and the the phlebotomist made me draw from him before touching a patient. You learn a lot from live draws/sticks.

Yea I was thinking about taking a phlebotomy course. It coincides with the nursing program so I can't do it until I am done with school, but I hope to work in the ER and I know they do a lot of their own IV's and Blood Draws (at least here) so I think it will be good. I am really good for someone to practice blood draws on, I am a really hard stick.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Yea I was thinking about taking a phlebotomy course. It coincides with the nursing program so I can't do it until I am done with school, but I hope to work in the ER and I know they do a lot of their own IV's and Blood Draws (at least here) so I think it will be good. I am really good for someone to practice blood draws on, I am a really hard stick.

Nah, save your money. No need for another course. Just start poking folks. You'll get the hang of it. There'll be several infiltrations along the way. It's a learning process. Just don't let it stress you out.

I've always wanted to start an IO on someone, but sadly I've never gotten the opportunity.

[Rnstudent2011]

In reality, the students bathing each other, etc. has become controversial of late, on moral, and philosophical grounds. Some feel a nurse should have all the procedures done on them "to feel how the patient feels". I learned that many classes actually tie students hands down to experience being fed, things like that.

If anyone is interested in a very lively thread not terribly old, check out:

Bathing Classmates and Other Personal Boundaries? - Nursing for Nurses

I find the debate that student nurses need to "feel how a patient feels" very interesting... How many people have not been a patient at some point? How many people have never had blood drawn or an IV placed? How far does this thought go? Should we get a c-section just to know how it feels? How about we infect everyone or give them kemotherapy or a heart transplant? I mean seriously, this is just an excuse, we will never know how each patient feels and this is a perfect example. Just because YOUR comfortable with having a bed bath or a breast exam DOES NOT mean that your patient will be!!! Different people have different comfort levels, different pain tolerances etc, and you cannot base what the patient will feel on what you feel! Personally I have a big difference in being a pretend patient in a lab and a patient in real life.

I let an EMT student watch me give birth to my youngest daughter, yet being in class and being asked to be in a sports bra and shorts is uncomfortable for ME. I don't want my classmates touching me in any place, including my stomach, that I would normally have clothes on, that is out of my comfort zone. I have no issue with doing vitals on one another or even IV puntures (which scare me for different reasons after taking phlebotomy class) Would I let someone in a hospital who is a student watch or practice on me, yes I would.. I know that may sound weird to you, but for me there is a big difference in someone I will only see 1 time in my life and someone I have to be in class with for the next 2 years seeing my body. Is it my insecurity? Yes, it is, and it is what it is. It doesn't mean that nursing is not the right choice for me!