Fake germs and toothpaste
The new quarter began yesterday with neon germs and toothpaste.
For the next five weeks, we have only one class, called "Inverventions I." It includes lectures, labs and clinical experiences all rolled into one. It should be a great experience.
Once again, the faculty seemed excellent. They've got a tough job, organizing all 100 or so of us into lab and clinical sections. We have three lab instructors for each lab of 25 people, so that's a 8:1 teacher/student ratio. Not bad. It also means that there are something on the order of 25 different instructors for this class.
The first lab was a lot of fun. We're learning basic care and hygiene for clients. We started with oral hygiene. I had my partner lie on his side and feign unconsciousness, while I propped his mouth open, donned gloves and brushed his teeth. It was a little strange at first ... sticking a gloved hand and toothbrush into my classmate's mouth while he drooled into an emesis basin. How often do you get to drool on your classmates? At least no one in lab had bad breath.
We then practiced putting pyjamas on and taking them off eachother. Of course, we all had several broken limbs to make the process interesting. We applied compression stockings to eachother, and gave sponge baths to a manikin.
Then came the germs. We rubbed hand cream from a dubious bottle labeled "fake germs" all over our hands, which made them flouresce under a UV light. We then had to use propper hand washing technique to see if we could get rid of them all, and have non-flourescing hands. Next time you need to entertain a 7- to 10- year old (or a bunch of college educated nursing students for that matter), I highly recommend fake germs.
For the next five weeks, we have only one class, called "Inverventions I." It includes lectures, labs and clinical experiences all rolled into one. It should be a great experience.
Once again, the faculty seemed excellent. They've got a tough job, organizing all 100 or so of us into lab and clinical sections. We have three lab instructors for each lab of 25 people, so that's a 8:1 teacher/student ratio. Not bad. It also means that there are something on the order of 25 different instructors for this class.
The first lab was a lot of fun. We're learning basic care and hygiene for clients. We started with oral hygiene. I had my partner lie on his side and feign unconsciousness, while I propped his mouth open, donned gloves and brushed his teeth. It was a little strange at first ... sticking a gloved hand and toothbrush into my classmate's mouth while he drooled into an emesis basin. How often do you get to drool on your classmates? At least no one in lab had bad breath.
We then practiced putting pyjamas on and taking them off eachother. Of course, we all had several broken limbs to make the process interesting. We applied compression stockings to eachother, and gave sponge baths to a manikin.
Then came the germs. We rubbed hand cream from a dubious bottle labeled "fake germs" all over our hands, which made them flouresce under a UV light. We then had to use propper hand washing technique to see if we could get rid of them all, and have non-flourescing hands. Next time you need to entertain a 7- to 10- year old (or a bunch of college educated nursing students for that matter), I highly recommend fake germs.
posted by Judith @ 7:18 PM
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