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what we still learned in nursing school that later proofed to be utter nonsense outright or just became really outdated.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.

[brownbook]

Moose knuckel! Yuck, I do not even want to Google that! My stomach hurts from trying to imagine what it means! We'd better be careful, "they" are going to close this thread if we keep it up

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

That lpns are phased out.

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

My class got to learn how to start up and shut down a computer. (This was before the Internet). We received instruction on how to type something on screen and to then print. (On a dot-matrix printer).

Hoo Boy, was that cutting edge stuff! LOL.

[JBudd, MSN]

Broncophony and making the patient say "99"

well, in the settings where you don't have easy access to xrays... I once made a call to a doc to send out a LTC pt based on both decreased breath sounds and fremitis (good old 99); he listened because it was obvious I knew what I was talking about and had mult. assessments. And the fact that he laughed at first indicated the poor level of skills in that place (I didn't stay long), and then apologised later when the xrays showed (gasp!) pnuemonia, .... it is a useful skill.

[joe a.]

All of you that like this, think about it. This "moderator" says reality orientation "does not work". That is bold. Especially for one trained in the scientific process. Like all nurses have been. She has given no evidence or data to support the ineffectiveness of reality orientation groups. I have personally lef hundreds of R O groups and I think they are an invaluable assessment too.. You do remember assessment, I'm sure. These groups are not meant for "reorienting". If that is the goal then yes, you will fail. When used as an assessment tool, they can be fun, humorous, and insightful. If you want to claim they don't work, show me your data.

[CountryMomma, ASN, RN]

All of you that like this, think about it. This "moderator" says reality orientation "does not work". That is bold. Especially for one trained in the scientific process. Like all nurses have been. She has given no evidence or data to support the ineffectiveness of reality orientation groups. I have personally lef hundreds of R O groups and I think they are an invaluable assessment too.. You do remember assessment, I'm sure. These groups are not meant for "reorienting". If that is the goal then yes, you will fail. When used as an assessment tool, they can be fun, humorous, and insightful. If you want to claim they don't work, show me your data.

We aren't talking about psych milieu in the setting of acute delirium or psychosis, which I thought was fairly evident. We are talking about longstanding progressive dementia - irreversible, destructive, terrible. There is nothing to be gained from telling a 96 yo woman who thinks she's 19 and waiting for her husband to come home from the war that he's really dead for 15 years and she's incontinent 24/7. It's cruel and unethical, imho, to forcibly intrude upon her like that. It will upset her greatly, possibly terrify her, and she is physically and mentally incapable of retaining the information, so she will be exposed to that harmful stimuli regularly.

So no. There's is no good goshdarn reason to insist on yanking a poor pt with chronic, persistent/progressive dementia back into our world.

[WinterLilac]

1. Psychiatric nursing was laughed at (literally) which made my blood boil. I've always aimed for psych nursing but as I was still a student and they were in the power of passing or failing me, I kept my mouth shut.

2. The student who won 'best student award' only won it because she had the longest commute to class. She was the worst academic student in the entire class but because she bleated so much about her travel every. single. day. I'm sure they felt compelled to award it to her (Yes I'm bitter)

3. APA 6th edition referencing: We were taught to include the first initial in the intext referencing. I lost big marks at uni following this!!

4. BULLYING! My mum was a mature age student in the full-time class (I did part-time) and we shared some classes. There were three students who blatantly scoffed, laughed at and intimidated not only my mum but other mature aged students. The lecturers did NOTHING. They ignored it. These were new nurses and they allowed them to bully each other. I wrote a formal complaint but it did nothing. Sickening.

I sound like a bitter old cow but I've learned a lot from the above and endeavour to be different!

[joe a.]

I agree. These groups should be un in a psych milieu environment. In your case, that is cruel and unusual punishment. Thank you for making the distinction. Your comments are appreciated.

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

Regarding reality orientation in dementia, last year This American Life ran a lovely story about how an improv comedian speaks with his mother-in-law, who has dementia. He makes up stories around her reality that she responds to in a beautiful way.

Magic Words | This American Life

If you care to listen, it is Act 2, "Rainy Days and Mondys".

[Dave_In_Florida, ADN, LPN, RN]

Guided imagery for pain relief. In the real world, you're telling them to picture themselves on a beach, and they are screaming "I want my f*cking dilaudid!!!!!!!"

[ladyklurker]

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 refused to do this after a sweet very cognitively impaired old lady cried all night because she was told her mother was dead.

There wasn't anyone who would "report" me, as I worked nights with compassionate staff. Many a night that sweet old lady slept because I told her Mother would make oatmeal with raisins for breakfast.

[anon456, BSN, RN]

We had to memorize all kinds of things that nurses in the real world would just look up as needed. For example we were required to memorize the entire vaccination schedule for birth through older adults. It was nonsense.