A typical day on campus learning nursing clinical skills

Katie Witts is a second year Adult Nursing student at The University of Manchester. In this blog post Katie shares an example of what a typical day on campus might look like as a student nurse.

During my nursing degree, we have a variety of on-campus days in which we have the opportunity to use the clinical skills labs. This involves a range of sessions where we can practice our clinical skills (e.g. moving and handling, venepuncture, and catheterisation).

When you are taking part in these sessions, you are expected to be in full uniform, consisting of either a tunic and trousers or a dress and tights. You will also need to wear the appropriate footwear, which are black and wipeable shoes (no canvas or open-toes!).

Year 2 clinical skills

During year 2, we get to learn more invasive skills which we can then use on placement, with the permission of your practice supervisor. I think it really improves your confidence because learning in a controlled environment gives you the ability to make mistakes without having any consequences. We all learn from our mistakes!

The labs

The skills labs have a range of up-to-date medical equipment, which students are taught how to use and become more familiar with. I find this really useful because it gives you an idea of what to expect when you go on your clinical placements in real healthcare settings.

When you walk in, it is set out like a nightingale ward (with beds on either side) and the practical equipment will be laid out for your specific session.

Example day

9am – Arrive on campus and grab some breakfast. I had a cup of tea and a pastry from the Students’ Union cafe. They have different deals on each day which are perfect for a quick snack before a learning day.

10am – Session 1 in the lab. For the first session of the day, I was learning about NG tube insertion. We have some dummies which let you see the stomach so that when you are practicing the insertion, you can check that it is in the right place! We then took a sample from the tube, just like you would in practice, and checked the pH to check it was in the stomach.

11:30am – Session 2 in the lab. For the next session we went across the hall to learn catheterisation skills. Again, we practiced on mannequins with professional equipment. Whilst in the labs, you usually work in small groups around one bed so you can help each other with the technique. The lecturers gave us a demonstration of the aseptic no touch technique (ANTT) beforehand as a quick reminder from last year.

1pm – Lunch break

2pm – Session 3 in the lab. For my final session of the day, we went down into one of the rooms of Jean McFarlane Building to do subcutaneous injections and intramuscular injections. We use mannequins and real medical equipment to prepare some injections and administer them to the mannequins. There are also some model hands which you can practice blood glucose testing on, and fake blood even comes out of the fingers!

3pm – Home time!

So, this is just one example of a day on campus as a student nurse. For all of our clinical skills days, we do different things. You get the opportunity to work with the lecturers and ask any questions you may have. Its also nice to catch up with other nursing colleagues, as these days often take place just before starting or during placement.

Thank you for reading, and feel free to ask any questions 😊

Find out more about studying Nursing at The University of Manchester.