1st day of med surge skills and i was already frustrated! advice? -student at mdc med

[Tats88]

Well i had med surge skills yesterday for the first time, and it all seemed to be happening so quickly..we had a small orientation, then the teacher spoke about iv's and we did some calculations, and then she showed us how to do IV therapy, Iv medications, and venipuncture..but she did everything so fast and when someone told her to slow down, she started talking differently as if she were making fun of the student, i dont know..basically we only had 20 min 2 practice, which flew by..oh and i don't understand how to regulate drop factor, how do u count..for example if you 25gtt min..my friends explained but i dont know if i was so frustrated that it wouldn't go thru or if there explanation was confusing..help! well i know it was just my first day..she says we will practice more next class, but i dont c how if we have a new skill next class, i think its trachesectomy or something...oh did i mention we have to perform all of our skills in one day..20 min. each, talk about nerve wrecking! the class is 5 weeks, so its going to go super fast!! n wat is really aggravating me is that the skills lab is going to be booked this whole month, so how do we practice outside of class, we have class time to practice but for me that is never enuff..i need more time! advice plz...is there anyway you can improvize with the materials we are given..i am very upset about this!

[dorselm]

Some of the things you can go home and practice. For instance, how to apply sterile gloves, get a few pair and practice at home. Practice vitals and Head to toe assessment on other people. You can practice bandaging people by taking home some extra bandages. Look out on this website for info on calculationg drip factors rates and such. Don't let this discourage you, take a deep breath and have faith in yourself.

[BigBee48]

Please take a few deep breaths, you will get enough time to practice. I remember when I was going through it, I looked at everybody at a potential IV stick, I would grab my relatives arms, and say "Oh I could start an IV easily or it would be really hard to start an IV in you". We practiced on oranges for sticking, like insulin injections. And

reheorifice your putting on sterile gloves, giving baths, and other skills, doing it by the book was the really big thing. Any way you'll be fine, just practice,practice, practice, and that means on friends and family. Goodluck you'll be fine:clown: