What have you learned in nursing school that was utter nonsense?

[TheMiss]

A nursing friend and I recently discussed what we still learned in nursing school that later proofed to be utter nonsense outright or just became really outdated. I found it quite interesting and was wondering what everyone else remembers?

One of the things I thought of was the myth of your tongue having different taste zones.

[pockunit, ADN, RN]

I did watch

, but I can't spot the placenta.

(this is kind of NSFW, FYI)

Sybil has a seizure and dies after delivering the baby.

[Dogen]

Sybil has a seizure and dies after delivering the baby.

Is Sybil the "big girl" whose scooter Mackelmore is riding on the back of?

(this is either going to get more or less funny the longer it goes on, I'm not sure yet)

[ebrooks1013]

Prize Candle | Facebook

I saw a cute video with a an Alzheimer's patient and her daughter today.. Thought of this thread from yesterday and decided to post because it was really light hearted and fun.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Does anybody remember making a mitt out of a folded washcloth for bedbaths? Not really nonsense, but I smile when I think about how we practiced and how I see bedbaths really done.

Don't forget to have the open side of the pillowcase facing away from the door.

What's a bed bath?

(Facetious- I learned how to do one, but now it's all about those disposable wipes that don't do much of anything)

[Nurse Leigh]

What's a bed bath?

(Facetious- I learned how to do one, but now it's all about those disposable wipes that don't do much of anything)

Or worse yet, if in certain ICUs are "bed baths" using only those chlorhexidine wipes. (On our floor, they were just used pre-op.) Sticky, and I would see them stored in the warmers which I thought ruined their efficacy.

I understand the importance of reducing infections but wish there were a better, less sticky way of doing it.

[Farawyn]

Is Sybil the "big girl" whose scooter Mackelmore is riding on the back of?

(this is either going to get more or less funny the longer it goes on, I'm not sure yet)

Pssst... D, do you want to know the answer to that?

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Is Sybil the "big girl" whose scooter Mackelmore is riding on the back of?

I think Macklemore looks like what would happen if Princes William and Harry reproduced together.

[mysonsmama]

Or worse yet, if in certain ICUs are "bed baths" using only those chlorhexidine wipes. (On our floor, they were just used pre-op.) Sticky, and I would see them stored in the warmers which I thought ruined their efficacy.

I understand the importance of reducing infections but wish there were a better, less sticky way of doing it.

In my ICU we do a bed bath with actual washcloths and then do the CHG wipes daily. And obviously pre-op.

[Cheyenne RN,BSHS]

Reality orientation for very demented patients does not work. If the 89-year-old lady thinks it is 1988, and her long-deceased husband is still alive, and Ronald Reagan is the president, it is better to allow her to think these things.

Telling her it is 2016, and her husband's been dead since 1995, and Ronald Reagan's been dead since 2004 is unlikely to be therapeutic or go very well.

I so totally agree that it is fruitless and indeed cruel to take a confused elderly person with and try to reorient them. Meet the patient where the are in their reality and gently work within that frame of reference.

[Hollybobs]

Reality orientation for very demented patients does not work. If the 89-year-old lady thinks it is 1988, and her long-deceased husband is still alive, and Ronald Reagan is the president, it is better to allow her to think these things.

"Reality orientation"?? Is that a thing? Please tell me no-one is taught that? Is it an old-fashioned thing? As you say, so so needlessly cruel.

[Farawyn]

"Reality orientation"?? Is that a thing? Please tell me no-one is taught that? Is it an old-fashioned thing? As you say, so so needlessly cruel.

I was taught it. Mid 90s.

[Hollybobs]

I was taught it. Mid 90s.

I've just googled it, the theory appears to be modified now. Rather than "pure", cruel reality orientation it seems to have led to orienting people within their surroundings. For example, things like desks, cupboards, "your room", "this is the clock, it is half-past 3" etc. Much better.