What skills have you been signed off on?

[LVN_Soon2Be]

Ahhhh skills, gotta love getting graded on them in front of your instructor and class! I get stage fright so bad. I try to thing of myself in the clinical setting and it's just the patient and me, but it's very hard. Especially when you hear your classmates whispering to each other. I always wonder if they are saying something about me. Hmmmm, anyways...

So far, after our second week of LVN school, we have been checked off on these skills:

• Hand washing (that's a given)
  
• Putting on and removing PPE
  
• Putting on sterile gloves and removing them
  
• Making an occupied bed
  
• Making an unoccupied bed
  
• Performing a urine dipstick test (pH levels, ketones, protein, etc.) and how to interpret them and what the normal ranges all the tests are and what possible illnesses these tests can show (UTI, cancer, pregnancy - not an illness, etc.)
  
• Performing a fecal occult test
  
• Performing passive ROM
  
• Obtaining a specimen culture from a wound
  
• Obtaining a specimen from the throat
  
• Obtaining a specimen from the nose
  
• Obtaining a urine specimen (routine and clean catch)
  
• Obtaining a stool sample
  
• Putting and taking a patient off the bedpan
  

A lot of skills already for going on my third week into the VN program... and it's just beginning! Can't wait to get to NG tubes, suctioning, assessments (well data collection), etc.

I always volunteer to be the test subject on a lot of these (ROM, bed making, etc... I even volunteered my BM for the fecal occult test but we used a smashed banana instead.)

ANYWAYS, what skills have you been checked off on already? And how far are you in your nursing program?

[Mewsin]

I'm almost finished second semester, just finals and practicum left.

1st semester

Wash hands

Transfer lifts repositioning

Make bed, occupied and unoccupied

Catheter care

Bed bath

Rom

Feeding people, assessing swallowing, assessing risk for aspiration.

Obtaining specimin samples urine, sputum, wound, rectal, nares

Donning and removing ppe

Use and assessment of restraints

Vital signs, temperature, pulse, respiration, bp, SpO2

Pericare, foot and nail care, oral care, sensory aids maintenance

Topical applications to skin

Urine testing

Digital disimpaction

Assisting with a bed pan

Assessing abdominal distension

Administering a suppository

Administering an enema

administering a rectal tube.

Application of disposable brief

2nd semester

Set up sterile field

Catheterization

Colostomy bags, emptying, administering

Enteral tube feedings and medication administration

Fluid intake and output

Physical assessment

Admission and discharge of a client

After life care(pronouncing death, cleaning body getting ready for transport)

Blood glucose monitoring

Oxygen therapy

Oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal, tracheostomy suctioning

Tracheostomy stoma and cannula care

Oxygen therapy

Administering subcut, transdermal, IM injections

Administering enteral route medications

Administering medications to a pediatric client

I haven't picked up my 3rd semester books yet but I'm pretty sure we start IV care next semester.

[Wannabeeinscrubs, ADN, LPN, RN]

I feel behind, we haven't done any of that yet and we are in our 5th month of school. We have however finished A&P, that is a relief. I am looking forward to the hands on part!

[teady012002]

We are going into our second term, (5 terms total) and we have only done:

Hand washing

Transfers

Setting up sterile field

Vital signs

Assisting with bed pans

Head to toe assessment

Restraints

Bed making

Bed baths

ROM

and PPE

Your program is doing really well compared to mine. I hope we pick up the pace (in regards to lab) next term. We are also about to begin going to the clinical sites. Should get some real hands on experience there. I can hardly wait :-)