Practicing Skills over Break

[IThinkICan100]

So, I have two more days until I finish my first year of nursing school! We pretty much learned all of our nursing skills during the first semester, but never had a chance to really practice them in clinicals. We did IVs and our dosage calc test at the end of the first semester and we were in a nursing home for half of the second semester, so we never really got to do them in clinicals until recently at a post-acute recovery center.

I am really wanting to keep up my skills over break! We start med-surg next semester, so we will really need to be proficient. Is there anyway that I could practice my skills over break? How did you guys keep from getting rusty over summer?

[smf0903]

Did you get supplies your first semester to practice skills? We got a bag which had syringes, IV bags and tubing, fake insulins, trach care, foley, etc in it. This semester we had a lot of IVs, foleys, etc so I feel relatively comfortable with them. However, during previous breaks I used my lab supplies and practiced. I used a pool noodle cut down to about 15" or so and taped it to the back of a big Tupperware-type container. It was great for practicing, since (if taped the right way) you can practice IV inserts/blood draws and use the tourniquet. I used it to practice everything because the pool noodles have a hole in the center, so I practiced trach care and foleys with it as well LOL. Not quite the same as a person, but works I used hooks from my pot rack to hang the IV bags and had a piece of cardboard that I'd lay on top of our bar stools to use as a side table (was cut to be about the size of the hospital side tables so I wasn't cheating on how much room I had to lay stuff out). Some days my dining room looked rather interesting LOL