Things You Do In Nursing School

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Jun 22, 2006

You do give baths, but I think it's probably far more embarrassing for the patient than for the nurse or student. If you're looking at becoming an NP, you'll deal with things that are very sensitive subjects and require possibly even more professionalism.

NZHolly · Jun 22, 2006

Hey

I have just finished the first of my six stages as a student nurse and we are just getting into bathing. For some people it definitely comes naturally but for others, like myself it is going to be something I will have to get use to! I find it awkward, not so much embarassing. But I guess you jsut have to see it from the patients point of view...they must be feeling rather awkward also. You just have to get past the fact that they are naked I think...hmm something like that anyway!

And once you are out in the real world, after you have graduated, you may not have to do that sort of thing at all. Just depends on what you specialise in :)

Cheers, Holly

moongirl · Jun 22, 2006

we were taught to never make the pt totally nude. If you have a great instructor, they will show you how to bed bath a pt using big towels, only uncovering what you are cleaning at the time. As always, put yourself in their position and think of a way to make it as least uncomfotable as possible, always respect their privacy

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2006

Moongirl is right. 32 years ago in nursing school we were also taught to keep patients covered except for the areas of the body we were bathing or working on. The only time the genital area was EVER exposed was if the patient was unable to do any part of washing that area at all--and even then, we were taught to keep them covered and just work underneath the bath blanket. Can't help exposing that area during urinary catheterizations though. Otherwise, the remainder of the patient's body should be completely covered. They would freeze to death anyway if you didn't keep covers on them! The only time I've ever seen people in any kind of frank nudity was in the ER during a trauma or a code blue, something that happens frequently in the areas you say you are interested in. Even then, someone will usually put a towel over the person's genital area and then other areas if possible.

The hardest thing for male nurses, I think, is Obstetrics. Like, I'm sure you and your male buddies have spent lots of time sitting around talking about problems with your wives/girlfriend's uterus', fallopian tubes, ovaries and general discomforts of being pregnant. :eek: :argue: (I deliberately meant that to be funny and sarcastic.) Most men have no practical knowledge of the subject at all so it makes learning about it a bit harder. Maybe seeing or holding a baby's head coming through a lady parts as it is being born is the hardest thing you'd have to do.

Contrary to how another poster responded to your same question in the Male Nursing Student Forum, some babies manage to be born in the ER and in the ER parking lot before the mothers even have a chance to get turfed (transferred) to L&D. I was a nursing supervisor in an acute hospital, trust me, it does happen.

old_guy · Jun 22, 2006

The hardest thing for male nurses, I think, is Obstetrics. Like, I'm sure you and your male buddies have spent lots of time sitting around talking about problems with your wives/girlfriend's uterus', fallopian tubes, ovaries and general discomforts of being pregnant. :argue: (I deliberately meant that to be funny and sarcastic.) Most men have no practical knowledge of the subject at all so it makes learning about it a bit harder.

LOL!! I'm amazed sometimes as to how frank women can be about such things. I NEVER talk about personal bodily functions with anyone except my wife or my doctor, but I've been around plenty of women - family and not - who simply don't seem to care. I was sitting in Bible Study class last night and the gals were talking about someone having trouble with ovarian cysts, then the discussion branched into PAP smears and other stuff. I considered being mischevious and asking something like "Ummmm...should we guys step outside for a few minutes?"

ms mimi · Jun 23, 2006

you might not bathe somebody totally nude but you will have to see parts of male and female patients that you wouldn't normally see. you will also have to insert catheters, and maybe enemas. plus in first semester we learned about digging out fecal impacted patients. it is not pretty but i am getting used to it

mstrudde · Feb 13, 2008

okay, you guys are way to nice! When was the last time you took a shower or bath in your tidy-whitties??? I practiced bed bathes as a cna in class and have only used those techniques while working in the ICU. But let's be frank, they don't let Nursing students even close to the ICU. So, brush up on your "empathy" and remember, you enter with confidence, and you are seeing them at one of their most private moments.

mstrudde, LPN, 3rd semester student

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2008

But let's be frank, they don't let Nursing students even close to the ICU.

Not necessarily true. We had students do their preceptorships in ICUs...depends on the student, the school, and the hospital.

But the tidy-whitey quote is both true AND funny!

krenee · Feb 13, 2008

I'm doing my OB rotation right now, and let me tell you there's definitely no such thing as modesty in OB! My first patient was already in stirrups and pushing when I walked into the room. She pushed like that for about an hour while I was there, so obviously everything was out there to see. My second patient was a c-section, and when they took her to the OR to be prepped, she was nude from right below her breasts, just lying on the table for a little while.

I can tell you from having three kids, that you might *care* about stuff like that when you're in the situation, but it's not the first thing on your mind. You just kind of push that aside and worry about what you need to.

Kelly

JTinSC · Feb 13, 2008

Baths are nothing, you get used to it after awhile. The patients are usually very old and not able to care for themselves, and no patient has ever made me feel awkward about bathing them. Normally after you do, their family will come in and notice how clean they are, especially if you have someone you shaved, and they'll greatly appreciate it. This really does make it seem like even the simplest things do matter even though it might not seem like such a big deal to you.

Now the most uncomfortable thing for a male nurse is the OB rotation. I know the instructors go in and ask each patient if they mind a male nurse, but I've come to the conclusion that the patient really isn't aware of what you'll actually be doing. I've had a few tell me they didn't want me assessing their perineal, they didn't want me to assess their breasts, lord forbid me look at an episiotomy. It really does **** me off because I walk in as a professional and I feel like a professional, and then they treat you like you're just someone off the street, but most of their ob/gyn's are males.

I've been kicked out of one room by a patient who changed her mind, I've been chased out by a husband who didn't want me walking in to take vitals because the mother was breast feeding. I've had the nurses give me attitude sometimes, especially the OR nurses, they seem to have a really bad attitude towards male students.

Its not only us males either, I've seen the females have hard times in OB clinicals also. It just seems we're not as appreciated as we are on the normal med/surg clinical rotations. My last OB clinical was this past Thursday, and I am done with it FOREVER. It was the greatest feeling I've ever had since starting this program. You just don't know the feeling of telling a female "I'm going to assess your perineal/private area, ok?" "Oh no you're not."

MB37 · Feb 13, 2008

This thread is ancient, but I'll throw in my 2 cents - not all of us women have any interest in spending half a semester staring at lady partss either! Would all of you men love to have an entire course in urology, or the prostate gland? I guess I have the parts, but especially those of us who don't have kids don't know much more going in than the guys do. I wish we had more of a choice in classes and could avoid OB entirely, but unfortunately they put questions about it on the NCLEX. I don't even like to hold babies - always afraid I'm going to drop them or something. I'm sure that will be different once I have my own, but you can keep other people's kids far away from me please. Especially the process of having them! Oh well, it's just one more hurdle we all have to jump before we graduate.