Sim and Skills Lab is a vital aspect of the nursing curriculum. What is a skill that you find most difficult? If you have yet to take sim and skills lab, what are you looking forward to when you do?
Nasogastric tube insertions, catheterizations, and enemas are some examples of procedures that I have the most difficulty with. These invasive procedures tend to cause a lot of discomfort and pain for the patient, and frequent unexpected situations can arise if you are not careful. For example, a nasogastric tube can accidentally puncture the lungs instead of entering the esophagus, or a catheter insertion can easily cause a urinary tract infection. It requires a lot of focus while constantly trying to comfort the patient. The sterile technique used to insert urinary catheters also takes a lot of focus to maintain sterility and decrease the likelihood of a bacterial infection, so my anxiety skyrockets when doing this.
I have also heard horror stories of patients throwing up everywhere after having a nasogastric tube inserted in them. It saddens me deeply when having to see people in pain in that kind of way. However, I am trying to change my perspective on this, and instead, keep in mind that these procedures are temporarily uncomfortable conditions that are needed to treat a much bigger problem. My clinical instructor this year told me that the perfect place to mess up was in the skills lab because you are not hurting anyone. The time we spend there is meant for nursing students to go through trial and error until we are comfortable with helping an actual patient. This brought me some comfort knowing that I am expected to make mistakes at this point in my life. The only direction to go from here is up! Reminding myself this and continuing to utilize the skills lab to practice these procedures will make the process less daunting in a real healthcare setting.