Bedside procedures

How to place a simple interrupted suture

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.

MD / DOPA
Practice it in VR with Blocky

The goal is edges that meet and turn slightly outward, without tension.

Step by step

  1. Prepare

    Consent, anesthesia, irrigation, explore the wound, sterile field. [1]

  2. Enter at 90 degrees

    Needle perpendicular to the skin, a few mm from the edge. [1]

  3. Equal bites

    Same depth and distance from the edge on both sides; follow the needle curve. [1]

  4. Evert

    Wider at the base than at the surface, so edges turn out. [1]

  5. Instrument tie

    Square knots (three or more throws), knot to one side. [1]

  6. Spacing

    Similar to the bite distance; dressing, tetanus status, removal date. [1]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

VMS cases that train this skill

Sources

  1. AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs)
  2. Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
  3. OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (CC BY 4.0)

Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) and OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills, licensed under CC BY 4.0. VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.