what to practice my skills on

Not only do I think this will give me some ideas but it will be interesting to hear what everyone has used to practice on. My hubby says I absolutly can not practice some things on him.

:bowingpur I practiced enemas using a detergent bottle w/a hole in the side of it and a sponge over the hole to make it more realistic....I am assuming your husband won't let you practice that on him! Also, hotdogs for injections work well especially for Intradermal. If I think of more I will post it.......hope that helps a little.

I used a water bottle in between my husbands legs(he was dressed of course) to practice foley insertion. It makes it more realistic when you are doing sterile technique.

:yeah:these are awesome suggestions.

BTW no my husband wont let me do an enema on him. Darn!

I second PP i have used hotdogs for intradermal great at showing the wheal. And I have used oranges for injections. As far as foleys go I have used a pillow.

Thanks for the ideas guys, these are fantastic. Keep them coming.

i practiced a wet to dry dressing on an irish potatoe

o.k. What is an irish potatoe?:brnfrt: I have never heard of it.:nuke:

regular potato u find at the grocery store.:wink2:

I practiced caths first on a 20 oz bottle. Not sure how to explain this but I will try, it was a water bottle and the opening nozzle pushed up and down for the cap (ie not a screw on lid) , i pushed it up in the open position and cut the nozzle off. It made it the perfect size for a standard cath to fit into, so it made it "real" trying to get it in the whole.

Also try a 32oz or 44oz cup ( ie from a gas station) with a straw and cath the straw. Put it in ur bed and position with pilliows or have ur hubby or friend hold it in between their legs. I always practiced sterile procedure, that made it more fun! talk to the pt too!

Hot dogs are the best for wheals!!

oranges and apples to practice "darting" the needle in.

Make up a med order or probably find one online and get some meds that you already have out of ur cabinet or pretend with aspirin or mineral oil or milk for MOM or cough meds. Do the five rights and pretend the med is a nitro and explain the route and reason for the drug.

Ill keep thinking !

I think I will write all of these down.

Thank you guys sooo much.

I practiced foleys on a teddy bear. Q-tips, a straw, a plate, pair of gloves folded at the bottom, and some imagination for everything else. Not the greatest practice but it helped get my muscle memory down to do the procedure.

I think I practiced full assessments on that same teddy bear.

I can't remember how I did everything else, but if you ask me about something specific I'll try to remember.