Oh practicum, how I loathe thee. For those of you nursing newbies out there, practicums are skills tests that professors put together to see if you can actually take care of a patient without doing harm. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Take a journey with me, readers: Imagine having to do a simple task like washing your hands. Now, imagine being blindfolded, spun around 29 times, and an added bonus: there are bear traps everywhere. Welcome to practicum, may the odds be ever in your favor.
No, it’s not really that bad-I kid, I kid. I think the worst part about practicum is the fact that your nerves are out of control. I know that it is necessary to have these skills tests, but they really do mess with your head and turn the simplest task into something hard. Before I shed some wisdom, here is my (not so) finest practicum moment.
Cath Spash: One of my earliest practicums involved inserting a catheter into various dummies’ plastic urethras. I always decided to practice on the boy dummy because there was no quest for the Incan gold that is the female urethra. I studied the administration of catheters for hours on end to ensure that I wouldn’t miss a single trick. I watched youtube video after youtube video of other students demonstrating the skill. The only problem with practicing this skill is that you really can only practice while in the Sim lab. I like to think of myself as innovative so I made my own little set up to simulate the whole process. I propped up a water bottle on the counter, got a piece of bread and cut a small hole in it, and went to town. When my roommates walked in on me doing this, I felt like the kid from American Pie that had a little too much fun with mom’s pie. I was ashamed, yet proud of my crafty, gluten-clad simulation vagina.
Then came practicum. I was a mess. I remember pulling over on my way to class under an overpass and puking my brains out due to the nerves. I got to the practicum about 2 pounds lighter and I was ready to grasp the world by the balls…pun intended. I walked into the pretend hospital setting and greeted my plastic friend. “My name is Nursie and I’ll be inserting a catheter in you today.” I felt like an idiot, but it was mandatory that we talk to these dolls. “Proceed,” said my stoic instructor. I prepped everything correctly, maintained sterile technique, and was going in for the kill to thread the catheter. My hands were shaking so badly that as I inserted the cath, my hand slipped on the syringe and I blasted my teacher with 10 ml’s of saline right in the face. MORTIFIED. She closed her eyes, wiped the fluid from her face, and said “Proceed.” I finished the procedure without any more mishaps and was certain that I had failed the skill. Suprisingly enough, I passed. I was able to say “that shouldn’t have happened” and “this is what I will do next time to ensure it will never happen again.” That’s the real skill we as student nurses need to learn: admit that you were wrong and learn what you can to to become better.
Practicum Survival Tips:
The Sim Lab is your friend: Every lab should be open during the week for students to use at their leisure. Go even if you don’t think you need to. Chances are that you will run into a classmate who has some sort of trick you can benefit from.
If you don’t understand the skill, ask for help! Professors are there to guide you through the tough parts of nursing school. They really do want you to succeed even when you think they were brought on this earth to tear you down. Ask and ye shall receive.
Sleep. Don’t stay up all night thinking you are going to have a revelation on how to do the skill easier. As much as we’d like to telepathically insert a catheter, science just isn’t there yet. Sleep.
Go in with confidence. Instead of dreading your eminent failure, how about thinking positive? Go in there with the idea “I’m going to show them what I know.” Wear your sassy scrubs, do your hair, and get ready to WERK (insert Ru Paul sass here).
Have faith. You’ve done this a million times and could probably do it with your eyes closed at this point. Take a deep breath and just do it. Worst case scenario you have to re-do the skill. We’ve all been there and it’s not the end of the world.
Those are my tips to practicum! Remember, it’s better to mess up on a Sim man than a real patient.
Nursie
nursiesays 