I had mentioned in another thread that I wouldn't allow a student nurse to attempt insertion of a foley on me (unless I'd been anesthetized prior).
So that got me thinking....
What would I and what wouldn't I allow a student nurse to do for me?
Here's my personal thoughts
I WOULD allow:
Vitals
Venipuncture
PO meds dispensed and IVPB meds to be hung (and main fluid bag changed/hung)
*SC or IM meds administered
EKG
SLIV/HLIV flush
D/C IV or SL/HL IV
Foley emptying and flushing (if RN with SN for flush)
Unchecked assessments for lung sounds, bowel sounds, DTRs etc (as in, SN can do it, as long as RN there to assess and verify)
I WOULD NOT allow:
Catheterization
IV insertion
*SC or IM meds administered
IVP meds
NG tube insertion
*I listed SC and IM under both categories. If SN had experience giving injections, well, then shoot away. But if not, sorry. I've seen way too many students get scared or try to be nice, etc, and push the needle in so slowly, push the med too fast into the tissue, not feel comfortable with location and hit a bone, etc.
I know I'm leaving lots of stuff out--haven't slept in over 36hrs, so brain ain't what she could be right now, yk?
What about you all? Where are you willing to aid the learning process and where do you draw the line(for you personally-not your kids/family)?
***We're assuming these are not emergency situations. ie, I'd let a student venipuncture me, but not if it were for STAT Mag levels because they think I have MagTox, or T&S because I'm bleeding, etc.
In nursing school we did all procedures on each other except for placement of foleys. But we did have these fake genitals that we had to wear in our underwear to place foleys and I think it's good experience to have.
Everything except a foley, eh?
So in med school you practiced the "finger in the bum to check for spinal injury", pelvic exams, and all that other genital & bum related stuff on each other?
So in med school you practiced the "finger in the bum to check for spinal injury", pelvic exams, and all that other genital & bum related stuff on each other?
Just an aside- nursing school does not equal med school.
once i got a needle stick from a big old trocar that had been used on a yellow man for a liver biopsy, said sharp being cleverly concealed in the drapes the resident rolled up for me to discard. so i had to go to the er for what was then the state of the art treatment, a good whopping dose of im gamma globulin (i have no idea if the state of the art has progressed since then...but i have had the hep b vaccine since, thanks).
there were paramedic firefighter students in the er, and one of them followed the nurse into the med room and she let him draw up the syringe and we all went into the treatment room. i dropped trou and turned around and saw the nurse hand the syringe to the firefighter. i thought he was going to pass out-- first im and it's for an icu nurse, in the butt. i said, "just hit it, don't be slow," and he did, and i hitched up my scrubs and said, "good job! thanks!" over my shoulder as i left. he was leaning on the guerney, still greenish grey from shock.
another time i was admitted for an emergency situation and got interviewed by a med student. at one point he stumbled, and said, "i don't know what i'm supposed to ask you next." i said, " 'what makes it better and what makes it worse?' is usually good." and he looked up from his clipboard and said, rapidly, "whatmakesitbetterandwhatmakesitworse?" it made me smile even though i felt like crap.
i let my nursing students hit my fingers for blood glucoses, i had students when my babies were born. i have always said they might as well practice on somebody who knows what should happen and can help them learn rather than somebody who won't know the difference. but then, i'm a compulsive teacher.
so in med school you practiced the "finger in the bum to check for spinal injury", pelvic exams, and all that other genital & bum related stuff on each other?
this is a nursing message board. those who attend medical schools/run medical schools would not be here, as it's a community for discussing nursing. i'm truly sorry that your significant other had a bad experience, but your anger here is misdirected. if you simply want to rant, i can understand that. but if you actually want to have an influence on what's done in medical schools, you need to find some people that actually have something to do with medical schools: physicians. not nurses.
i let my nursing students hit my fingers for blood glucoses
i'd rather let them practice venipuncture on me. i absolutely hate fingersticks. i really don't mind letting nursing students practice anything on me, but i'd really prefer it not be fingersticks. i'm the rare woman that finds the fingerstick to check for anemia to be the worst part of my yearly gyn visit! :)
So in med school you practiced the "finger in the bum to check for spinal injury", pelvic exams, and all that other genital & bum related stuff on each other?
I did that after school. I'm sorry for this post. I know I'm going to hell for this one...Sister Mary Angela said I was
So in med school you practiced the "finger in the bum to check for spinal injury", pelvic exams, and all that other genital & bum related stuff on each other?
What's the point in doing a rectal exam in a healthy individual it will add nothing to your knowledge base when checking for a spinal injury since it's the absence of tonus you are going to look for in a trauma patient. And everyone has their own orifice to check if you want to feel normal tonus.
First of all med school and nursing school are a lot different from each other. I've done my bachelor in medicine as well and to answer your question yes I did examine the scrotum of some of my male students. And we did breast exams on each other if the girls would allow it. For microbiology I was stirring in my lab partner's poo and pee. We had women and men come in especially in school as practice patients to practice live procedures. Things like a pelvic exam on a woman or assessing the prostate of a man happened there.
And the general rule was one insensitive remark or conduct unbecoming and you failed the class. Trust me people acted very professional in those lessons.
I'm sorry you had negative experiences BryanD but if you ever find yourself in Belgium in my hospital I'll take exceptional care of you. At Xmas time I've been known to hang lights and Xmas balls around the endotracheal tube to bring the Xmas feeling to my patients they generally enjoy a personal side to care.
Wow......good question.....I'd have to think about this one
Not just student nurses....interns too. I once had a renal arteriogram done prior to donation at a teaching hospital, and the intern must have taken a good three minutes to decide if he could get a 22g in the hosepipe I have in my AC. I came REALLY close to telling him, "If you have to think about it any longer, go find a nurse."
Well he should have been thinking that a 20g or larger is preferred for IV contrast :)
I would let a student start an IV on me because I have awesome veins. I'd tell them to use my AC, I preferred that location over the hand when I was in the hospital as a patient.
Foley...hmmm. A student might actually be more careful with sterile technique than a staff member would.
I had a new graduate nurse take care of me one day and I could definitely tell the difference between her and my night shift nurse who had been a nurse for a few years. The new grad didn't even assess me and she only came in my room 3 times the entire day.
BryanD
9 Posts
Everything except a foley, eh?
So in med school you practiced the "finger in the bum to check for spinal injury", pelvic exams, and all that other genital & bum related stuff on each other?