March 25, 2013 - My Students Share their Cadaver Experience
| My Nursing Students Visit a Cadaver |
March 25, 2013 - My Students Share their Cadaver Experience
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On our trip, we got to go to the cadaver labs. In the cadaver labs we got to see many different things like knees, hands, feet, shoulders, and even an entire cadaver. It was neat to look at the knees to see the different tendons that I could have injured during my knee dislocation. It was also interesting to work with the hands; this gave me a sense of how all the muscles of the lower arm work together to move the fingers in different directions. Lastly the best part was being able to touch the complete cadaver. I and my class mates got to look at tall the internal organs. On cool but unfortunate disease this person had was a vascular disease. It was neat to feel the crystals in the vessels. The overall experience was good to understand how the different systems work together. This is good for me as a nursing student because I got a chance to see how different diseases affect the body and can move for system the system.
The trip was a valuable experience in many respects and will contribute to my nursing career. I have a better understanding as to where various organs, muscles, bones, and nerves are found in the human body. All the things that we could only see in books were brought to life during this experience. The understanding that I gained will be a great asset when I explain to others the various maladies that were encountered. I will know how to explain what is going on with patients who have sprained ankles, osteoarthritis, carpel tunnel syndrome, as well as a dislocated shoulder. We also saw first hand the effects of arteriosclerosis on blood vessels which will be an important counseling tip for my patients. Finally I learned about the respect that is to be had for both the living and the dead. Overall, this was a valuable experience for me.
Benjamin Franklin once said "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." I think this quote really sums up how educational the trip was to me. Seeing the cadaver really put what I have been learning about in class into perspective. I got to see each "piece of the puzzle," each ligament, organ, muscle and tendon. The tour guide was amazing, She was very informative and educational yet very entertaining. We have been dissecting things in lab but no "kitty cat" or sheep testicle could compare to actually seeing the human body. This trip benefited my learning by allowing me to see each facet of the human body and its function. I now have a better understanding of Anatomy and Physiology of the human body and I hope that future students can have the experience that my classmates and I had. I want to thank Dr. Susan for accommodating us and Professor James for setting the trip up.
It was nice to get out of the classroom and take a day trip for something exciting and educational. I had felt anticipation during the drive. To be able to see a real cadaver is definitely an experience in itself. Previously I had only been able to dissect a cat to study various body parts including the muscles, blood vessels, various systems and organs. Dissection of a feline is not quite the same as setting one's eyes on human parts.
Upon arrival to the lab we suited up. A long sleeve lab coat and gloves made me feel like I was getting ready for something spectacular. I felt very excited and I felt my blood pressure elevate from anticipation. Our guide began by showing us around. To begin with we looked at various limbs and bones that were dismembered. Limbs of the foot, knee, hand and spine were presented. Our guide showed us differences in the degree of what a healthy specimen looks like in comparison to someone who had ailments. The evidence was in the bones.
One could see how a healthy person compares to one who may suffer from osteoarthritis. You cannot get any more real that that. We also saw a knee that had been replaced. It was also interesting to see what osteoarthritis might look like on that level. I can read about it in a textbook and look at images online but to actually see up-close and personal is very informative.
Finally came the coup de gras. The cadaver bag was slowly unzipped. I was pleasantly pleased to what I might find and experience. It was indeed human. Layer by layer was peeled away for examination as it had already been cut and prepared for viewing. First we started with the skin, we then looked closer to examine the thorax, abdomen and cranium. Once we went through various parts and systems we looked even closer at nerves and could even see the chordae tendineae of the heart.
This was a very enthralling experience I must say. I had never seen an arthritic bone before, a real human heart, or a cranial cavity, just to name a few, from the inside. It is one thing to read about anatomy but to actually see it up close and personal is very informative. I will use what I saw in the future regarding patient care. I believe I will also be more comfortable and better prepared to discussing the body in general.
Today me and most of my fellow classmates went on a trip to see a cadaver. When we arrived we met with the instructor and started our tour. We went into the lab and put on gowns and gloves. Then our instructor started showing us parts of the body and explaining and showing us where tendons/ligaments and such things were. Finally, we got throught the parts of the body and got to see the whole thing. A real cadaver! When we saw the whole body we saw many different items in the body, the one I remember that I thought was very neat was the small intestine. I am very thankful that I got to experience such an interesting trip with people that I will never forget. I did not touch any body parts when I was in the lab. I left that up to the lab instructor and my fellow classmates. However, I really believe that this trip was very educational and anyone who decides to be a fellow nurse should go see a cadaver. I feel this way because you can really understand the body and how it really looks in real life and I feel like that helped a lot to put everything together as a whole. This will ultimately help me in my future as a nurse because it makes me more experienced and exposed to real life experiences. I now have a knowledge and a different understanding of the body. It really makes a difference when you see the body parts in real life compared to in a text book or an animal/animal parts that we have disected. Once again I am very thankful to have this oppurtunity and to have more knowledge to help me with my future career as being a nurse. Thanks James for an awesome oppurtunity!
Thanks to my Professor, James and Doctor Susan, I was privileged to have this opportunity. It was a good learning experience. This enhanced my knowledge regarding the anatomy of the human being. I was able to palpate and see the real size of the body organs. I was able to see the scapula, muscles of the foot and hand, bones, a replaced knee, a spinal cord and an entire body. I was able to identify the body systems and all what we reviewed and learned in class, and how they are situated withing the body. I was very impressed with the tendons in the hand. I realized that our body is a wonder, and we take for granted several functions that our body does for us. As a nursing student it is very important to have this experience. First, because this will assuage any fear of being around a corpse. Also this will help to understand the physiology of the human body and how it works, what is the course of diseases and how they affect our body. On the other side, it is important because this can help you to decide, what nursing field we would like to specialize or work, for example forensic nurse , scrub nurse, trauma nurse, or maybe doing research. An experience viewing a cadaver is crucial for nurses because this will enhance your knowledge and a nurse can feel more confident when has to deal with a real patient.
This experience was very unique and something that I don't think I will ever forget. There were so many different things to see and interact with, it was amazing to see some of the aspects of our own bodies. I got to touch and see the ways that the shoulder, arm and hand, knee, and foot all would look like when working inside the body. I was able to relate some of these things to experiences in my life and it was really interesting to see what it was that was actually happening in the body. I also got to see what the spinal cord looked like, and how it was positioned in the body. My favorite part of the whole experience was seeing the cadaver. I thought it was very interesting to be able to move the various internal organs around to see how different things lie inside of the body. It was definitely something that I enjoyed and it will positively affect my nursing career because it helped me to understand some things that might be going on with a person when they have a complaint about something. I would definitely recommend future nursing students to experience this because it is a very unique experience and it gives a different view into how the body works and all of the different things that are involved.
Going too see a cadaver was an awesome experience! I have always had an interest in seeing a human cadaver. Seeing the cadaver was not like anything I had expected. I assumed before we went that the internal organs would be red/pink and look just like they do in pictures! Instead the organs looked gray and decayed not at all what I was picturing. When I handled the intestine it was much longer and slimier than I had imagined it would be. By far the most interesting part of seeing the cadaver was seeing how so much of our body functions are controlled by tendons. I had no idea they're we're so many tendons in the hand making every little movement possible. Seeing the cadaver definitely helped me understand the body and how it functions better. As a nursing student I will use this experience in the future to fully understand disease processes and exactly what is going on with the body. I had a great experience viewing the cadaver and I would love to do it again.
© Orin James 2013