[emptybee]

Hi! Unfortunately, we all need to go through some sort of bedside nursing to get to our actual field of interest. At our school, we have about 6-7 students per clinical group and 1 instructor. Our clinical instructor stays with us the whole time. And we each get 1-2 patients per shift. In the beginning of 1st semester, we just did assessments but as the semester progressed and by the end of 1st semester, we were doing assessment, bedmaking, baths, passing meds, doing injections, and documenting for 2 patients each shift. You'll be suprised at how much you can do and how much nurses are on their feet each shift.

[Kiringat]

Its depended on our rotation. Second sememster in med/surg I had 5. Now we're in Telemetry and are doing IV push meds for the first time, so we have 1-3. Once we hit 4th semester and get into out capstone/internship, we'll be expected to handle a full load of 4-6, depending on where we're placed. I'm hoping to get a psych placement, so have no idea what'll happen there.
Our instructer (who is awesome beyond words) isn't with us every single moment, but she's only a page away. She has to be there whenever we do something new or are administering narcotics. But aside from that, she is great at matching us up with patients who's care is within our skill/knowledge base, and pairing us up with nurses who can deal with students.
She knows that I want to be a Psych nurse, so she gives me a lot of patients who are less acute medically, but might have some major mental health issues, need to talk, or just need some TLC. Other students who have and interest in med/surg type stuff get the medically acute or complicated folks. She has also arranged for us to spend time following nurses in other specialties, like the IV Team, Wound Care, and Infection Control.
I've been lucky to get such an awesome clinical instructor, one who is willing to take the interests of her students into account. That doesn't seem to happen all that often though. Best of luck!