Customizing Nursing Supplies for Specialized Training Programs
Nurses usually work in several different fields of medicine, which allows them to assist doctors with administering diverse treatments and procedures to patients of all kinds. Obtaining specialized knowledge in these fields would help nurses better assist their patients.
Many nurses participate in specialized training programs to learn more about specific areas of healthcare, such as emergency care, pediatrics, and geriatrics. They can then apply their newly enhanced knowledge of these fields to better care for their patients on the job.
Do you want to prepare your nursing students for real-world clinical settings in different fields of medicine? If so, your learning institution can tailor its nursing supplies to match the needs of the specific nursing programs it offers in these fields.
Here are five tips to help you build your own nursing kit with customized nursing supplies:
1) Evaluate the Supply Needs of Course Curriculums
The first thing you need to do is evaluate the details and objectives of the various course curriculums of your institution’s nursing program. Focus on the activities, skills, and simulations that nursing students will need to perform in each specialized training program. Then, based on your evaluation, make a list of all the nursing supplies required to support the activities of each program.
Your learning institution may already have some basic nursing supplies, but they won’t support every specialized program. That is why you need to create a customized list of nursing supplies required for each program. It will ensure that you can provide your nursing students with everything they need to succeed in their specialized training and learning.
2) Create Your Customized Nursing Supply Lists
You will need to create separate customized nursing supply lists, one for each specialized training program. Although some of the supplies might be the same on each list, it is important to keep them separate to ensure you have enough for the nursing students in each program.
Let’s break down the nursing supply lists of three specializing training programs as an example of the supplies you might need for your institution:
- Geriatrics – Geriatrics training programs teach nurses how to care for senior citizens and older people dealing with injuries and illnesses. Some of the unique nursing supplies needed for treating geriatric patients include:
- Walkers
- Walking Canes
- Stethoscope
- Compression socks
- Comfortable shoes
- Pediatrics – Pediatrics training programs teach nurses how to care for children suffering from diseases and injuries. A pediatric nursing student will need these unique nursing supplies:
- Fun and vibrant scrubs (e.g., pink top scrub)
- Blood pressure cuffs
- Thermometers
- Pediatric simulation mannequins
- Emergency Care – Emergency care training programs teach nurses how to respond to fast-paced clinical environments where emergency care must be delivered to severely injured patients immediately. Some of the most useful supplies for this training program include:
- Defibrillators
- IV pole and bag
- Suction catheter
- First aid kit
- Thermometer
- Pulse oximeters
- Hand sanitizer
- Stethoscope
- Disinfecting wipes
Each specialized training program will require a combination of generic and specific nursing supplies that best suit the program. Consult your fellow professors, educators, and nursing professionals for other tips on the custom nursing supplies needed for these programs.
3) Personalize Each Kit with Custom Labels and Packaging
When assembling your customized nursing supply kits, you should ensure each one is packaged and personalized with information about the specialized program and your institution’s brand name and logo. That will make it easier for educators and students to identify each kit and the contents inside it.
Some examples of individual nursing supply kits include:
- Nasogastric Kit
- Ostomy Kit
- Wound Care Kit
- Foley Catheter Kit
- IM & SC Kit
- IV Insertion Kit
- Health Assessment Kit
- IV Maintenance Kit
Many medical suppliers offer preassembled kits like these that cater to specific healthcare treatment or assessment procedures. However, you have the option to customize these kits with the unique supplies you would like to include in them for your specialized programs.
4) Simulation Technology
Advanced simulation technology has become integrated into many specialized training programs at healthcare institutions worldwide. Educators find it much safer and easier to train their nursing students in specialized procedures by having them practice using simulation technologies.
Some examples of these technologies include:
- Manikins – Provide low-fidelity and high-fidelity manikins to allow nursing students to simulate various specialized nursing procedures on realistic human-looking manikins. The high-fidelity manikins are even built to respond to the actions performed on them.
- Virtual Reality – Incorporate virtual reality clinical simulations for the nurses of your specialized training programs.
- Simulated Oral Medications – Equip your nursing students with placebo medications with realistic labeling to teach them how to administer the proper medicines within each type of program.
Simulated oral medications are the most cost-effective nursing supplies to obtain for your specialized training program. If you have it within your budget to acquire the manikins and virtual reality technology for your specialized programs, that would be even better.
5) Take Surveys for Feedback
It’s possible you won’t initially obtain all the essential nursing supplies that you need for your specialized training programs. The only way you’ll know for sure is to evaluate your nursing students as they use the kits in the various training programs to see if they have all the supplies they need.
Take surveys of both the nursing students and educators to see how successful the kits are in their specialized training programs. Ask them to pinpoint which supplies they need that aren’t in the kits and which ones they don’t need that are in the kits. Based on their feedback, you can customize the kits again to modify which supplies are in them.
Build Your Custom Nursing Supply Kit Today!
Are you ready to assemble custom nursing supply kits for one or more of your institution’s specialized training programs? Contact Pristine Medical to find top-quality nursing supplies from renowned manufacturers in the industry.