REALLY, really silly question

[Sugar-Phosphate]

Hi,

I was wondering, in nursing school do you practice doing things on each other. I.E. catheters, IV's etc.

I know for police in order to use tasers and pepper spray they have to endure the pain first. Phlebotomists also learn to take blood from each other in school. I was just curious. I know this may be a stupid unethical question, but I am curious.

N.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Yep you get it all. So watch out!

[RNCEN]

Not in our program. The seniors give us flu vaccines, but no other invasive procedures are performed on one another.

[tripsis]

In our nursing BSN program, we do not. I am a junior now and doing clinicals, and some of the nurses DO let you practice starting an IV on them, but not on each other. There are reasons for that, one being that technically, the other student could get you in legal trouble, ect. That doesn't necessarily stop you from practicing outside of clinicals, but...not the best idea since its best to have the nurse watch you.

Maybe other nursing schools are different.

[Lcepick]

I'm in an accelerated BSN program, and we are not allowed to practice on each other. We of course asked because we wanted some real experience before we go sticking our clients during clinicals, but it was a no go; legal issues and what not. They recommended we practice on hot dogs for TB tests, lol.

[BacktotheBeach, ADN, BSN, RN]

We practice non invasive things on each other in lab, like head-to -toe assesments, BP, apical pulse. And I hear some practice bed baths in bathing suits....

[Asystole RN]

VERY rare to find a program where you practice anything invasive on each other. Insurance reasons.

[cmonkey]

Why on earth is that an unethical question?

We did flu shots on each other, staff, and other students. Other than that, we might practice head-to-toes on each other on our own time, but no baths, no foleys, no IVs, no nada. Too much liability.

[nursel56]

I've never heard of a program where students catheterize each other or do peri-care (washing the genital/anal area) though the rumors crop up quite frequently. Depending on the school you may do assessments, mouth care, and bed baths on each other. The question isn't the least bit silly! Best wishes!

[nurse simmy]

We gave each other shots with NS, and we started IV's. We got one practice stick, and then one again for check offs. In years past, before they got the mannequins, they did insert NG tubes in each other, but thankfully we didn't have to endure that.

[BellsRNBSN]

That's not a silly question at all!

I highly doubt you will do anything invasive on your classmates. In my ABSN program, we have done physical assessments, vital signs, repositioning in hospital beds, apical pulses, and tied tourniquets on each others' arms to look for good veins for venipuncture, but we never did actual needlesticks on each other. Everything that is invasive and/or sterile, we practiced on mannequins or simulation pads (injections, catheters, wound dressing changes, tracheostomy care, NG insertion, IV insertion, etc.). We also only practiced bed baths on mannequins.

The only somewhat invasive thing we DID actually practice was checking blood glucose levels - but we each did it on ourselves.

I'm guessing there are some major liability issues involved if schools were to let students practice such techniques on each other. So if you were nervous about it before, don't be.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Seriously though, my school requires you to get a shot from a classmate as part of check off, so choose wisely. And it also requires you to find a pt for starting an IV. I chose the instructor as my victim, most others just had members of the class do it. We were allowed to practice as many times as we wanted on a live person after we demonstrated proper technique on the dummy arm. I was stuck a ton and would offer my arms to newbies again without hesitation. There was always an instructor around watching us to ensure that we did it correctly.

But no, no catheters or NG tubes.