Expanding classroom time: teaching clinical intravenous skills in campus laboratory

Too much content to cover and not enough time to teach are persistent themes in nursing education. One nursing program utilized clinical time in the campus laboratory as a way to expand didactic time and increase skills practice before taking students to off-site clinical settings. After numerous student concerns about lack of intravenous skills preparation, faculty developed a multifaceted approach to teaching these skills. The clinical laboratory was employed for discussion, demonstration, and practice. Utilizing up-to-date equipment obtained through a small grant and using CathSim, students' confidence and expertise in intravenous therapy increased through hands-on experiences. Because of this experience, clinical instructors reported that students' confidence at the bedside was increased. The classroom instructor found the extra time in the classroom to be helpful in freeing time to incorporate more critical-thinking exercises on other content areas. This learning strategy could be incorporated with other contents areas also.