Today was my favorite day of the trip so far because we finally got to learn and practice skills that we will definitely use as nurses in the future. Throughout my freshman year, most of our classes focused on learning the sciences and understanding the human body before moving into more hands-on clinical experiences. We have not started our skills lab yet because that class begins in the fall semester. Because of that, I was really excited to finally be introduced to some of the skills we will eventually learn in nursing school. I think getting this experience now will make the transition into skills lab much less intimidating and will help me feel more confident going into the class since I have already seen and practiced some of these procedures before.

My favorite activity of the day was learning how to insert a catheter. I currently work as a nursing assistant, and I care for patients with catheters all the time, so I have always been curious about how they are actually inserted. Getting the opportunity to learn the process step-by-step and then practice it myself was such a cool experience. One of the biggest things I learned was that water is inserted into the balloon at the end of the catheter so it stays securely in place once it is inside the patient. Before this lab, I honestly thought the catheter somehow just stayed in on its own. I had always wondered how it remained secure without moving around too much, so finally understanding how it works was really interesting to me.

The women teaching us also shared a story about a situation where someone forgot to remove the water from the balloon before pulling the catheter out. She explained that it caused an extremely painful and bloody experience for the patient. Hearing that story really emphasized how important it is to carefully follow every step of the procedure and make sure patient safety always comes first. It also reminded me how even small mistakes in healthcare can have major consequences for patients.

This lesson also connected back to what I learned in microbiology this past semester. We discussed how catheters are one of the leading causes of healthcare-associated infections, and after practicing the procedure myself, I completely understand why. Catheter insertion is an invasive procedure, and there are many opportunities for bacteria to enter the body if sterile technique is not maintained properly. During the lesson, there was a huge emphasis on maintaining a sterile environment and following aseptic technique throughout the entire procedure. Seeing how careful you have to be gave me a much greater appreciation for why nurses must pay such close attention to infection prevention.

In the same room, we also learned about inserting an NG tube, although we did not get the chance to practice that skill ourselves. Even though we only observed, I still found the lesson really interesting because I have cared for patients with NG tubes before while working as a nursing assistant, but I never fully understood their purpose. Learning that they are used as feeding tubes made so much sense. I have also had patients who tried to pull theirs out, and I have heard nurses tell patients to swallow during insertion. Now I understand that the tube passes through the esophagus and into the stomach, which is why swallowing helps guide it down correctly.

Another thing we discussed that I had never really thought about before was the importance of flushing the tube with water after administering medications. Since medications are given directly into the stomach through the feeding tube, it is important to flush the tube between medications so they do not mix together and possibly cause a reaction. This was something I had seen nurses do before at work, but I never completely understood the reasoning behind it until today.

After lunch, we had another lesson focused on removing staples and performing wound care. I thought it was really interesting how simple staple removal actually was when done correctly. Before this lesson, I assumed staples were basically just pulled out, which sounded extremely painful. Instead, we learned how a special tool is used to gently bend and remove the staples in a way that minimizes discomfort for the patient. We also practiced cleaning wounds, changing dressings, and measuring wounds to monitor healing progress over time.

Once again, the instructors emphasized the importance of maintaining a sterile environment and using proper aseptic technique during wound care. Although sterility may be even more critical during catheter insertion, it is still extremely important for preventing wound infections and promoting healing. I also thought it was interesting that nurses carefully measure wounds because it allows them to track whether the wound is improving, staying the same, or getting worse over time.

This lesson connected closely to my job because the floor I work on has many patients with wounds such as pressure ulcers, surgical incisions, or other skin injuries. As nursing assistants, we are allowed to change some basic dressings for pressure sores, but we are not permitted to perform more advanced wound care. Being able to practice these skills gave me a much better understanding of what nurses are doing and why every step is so important.

Overall, today was my favorite experience because it was the first time I truly got to participate in the hands-on clinical side of nursing that I have been looking forward to for so long. Everything we learned felt directly connected to real patient care and to experiences I have already had while working in healthcare. It made me even more excited to start clinicals and continue building the knowledge and skills I will need to become a nurse in the future.