Priming and spiking?

Nursing Students General Students

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please don't laugh..but what does priming and spiking an iv bag mean?

our professors routinely forget that we are completely new to nursing and clueless to even simple terms like that lol

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Spiking means you actually stick the little spike from the IV tubing into the port on the IV bag(you'll see it..it's a spike that goes into the port after you pull off the little rubber stopper on the IV bag). And priming means you let the fluid run through the tubing and get the air out.

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Don't you just love how they do that? Last semester was my first and they were always using terms I didn't understand. Many of the other students already were CNAs or something similar and were also familiar. I'm not a dummy when it comes to medical stuff either! I was too embarrassed to ask and look stupid so I would just look up stuff. Soon you'll be the one using all the jargon and no one will know what you're talking about!

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I remember the first day we were in the hospital and our instructor and the RN giving us the tour kept talking about Is and Os, and I was so confused. I kept trying to figure out what it could be. Luckily, my mom is a nurse, so I called and asked her as soon as I got in the car. We quickly learned to just speak up because they were just doing it out of habit and appreciated a reminder of what we needed clarification on.

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I hate that! I remember my very 1st clinical and I had to hang of antibiotics. My instructor told me to go in and prime and spike the bag and she'd be right there. I of course had NO idea what she was talking about. I felt like an idiot! They are so used to teaching, they forget new students are new to it all. Good luck!

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

I have a group of students I'm like "Big Sister" to and they were so confused at what "culture and sensitivity" meant in terms of urine... like do they REALLY have to be culturally sensitive to pee?? LMAO! They were so focused on fundamentals that they forgot their microbiology lessons ;) The teachers didn't bridge the gap on that one ;)

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Specializes in -.

This is the problem with education & teaching in all arenas (not just nursing & not just in school). Its the problem when you are new at any job even after your formal education. Teaching is one of the most undervalued skills. Most are not good teachers & its especially difficult to teach when you are working at the same time.

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I hate that! I remember my very 1st clinical and I had to hang of antibiotics. My instructor told me to go in and prime and spike the bag and she'd be right there. I of course had NO idea what she was talking about. I felt like an idiot! They are so used to teaching, they forget new students are new to it all. Good luck!

I've been that instructor, and I would have expected you to have done that in learning lab with the lab instructor before you ever had occasion to do it in clinical. However, if anyone, even an instructor, uses a term or alludes to a piece of gear that is less than completely familiar to you, always always ask for a definition/clarification before another sentence goes by.

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I think sometimes we as students feel "stupid" asking a question but lets be honest, we're STUDENTS!! We're SUPPOSED to be asking questions! I ask questions of anyone who will listen, I think it shows I want to learn, not that I'm stupid.

Please ask questions, it will make nursing school that much easier and you'll miss so much less because then you can build on your learning.

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