Friday, September 21, 2007

This week's lab

This week in lab we learned to do a lot of "nursing" activities.

We learned to give bed bath's, which was very exciting. Luckily we just bathed the maniquins and not our lab partner (which is good since I am somebodies lab partner).

We also learned how to take blood pressure this week. I have been taught how to take blood pressure at least 5 times previous to being taught this past week. However we learned how to do it on a much deeper level. I've always thought that you just listen for 2 sounds, but you actually listen for five. I also learned that you don't have to pump it up as high as it goes before you let the air out and that there is a very simple way to take blood pressure so that the patient has relatively little discomfort. I'm sure that my mother will be glad for that.

We learned how to do a proper cardiac exam also and how to find the five main spots on the body to listen to cardiac sounds with our stethescope. That was interesting. I've always listened to my heart with various stethescopes that I have owned, but now when I listen to heart sounds it means so much more than it every did before.

Last but not least, we also learned how to change bed sheets with a person still in the bed. I already knew how to do this and have actually done it before at various times at work, but I learned how to do it more efficiently and more effectively.

I'm starting to feel very "nursey".

1 comment:

~Joy Kaye~ said...

And you're starting to look very "nursey". Some of my most vivid nurse memories are of them sitting in a bathtub with a Sphygmomanometer on their arm...

I'm lovin' keeping up with your nursing school. It really does sound interesting and cool. Maybe I should do that when I grow up...

:o)
Love ya'!
JK