[nursecateeny]

Just curious what would be the best unit for a preceptorship if you had the choice and why?

[moongirl]

Originally Posted by nursecateeny

Just curious what would be the best unit for a preceptorship if you had the choice and why?

for me, it would be OB because that is where I want to work.

For all around-ness, a Med- Surg floor would be great. I have had clinicals at hospitals that have seperate Medical floors, and those Medical nurses really kick some tail- I am so impressed at the AMOUNT of stuff they deal with on any given day ! MVA's, dog bites, ETOH withdrawal,cellulitis... the coolest/ickiest stuff I have seen/ learned has been on the Medical floor

[BeccaznRN]

Choosing a preceptorship is going to be a personal decision based on what areas you will have to choose from. If you are dead-set on specializing in an area (such as NICU) and have no interest in anything else, go for that. If you are still up in the air about areas you'd like to work in, I would suggest going with an area where you are struggling in theory class. Say you are struggling in cardiac - try to go to a cardiac step-down or something similar. If you are really struggling with prioritization and time management, go for a med/surg unit.

Finally, if you are really interested in an area that is not offering a preceptorship, find another one that is somewhat related. Say you are interested in labor and delivery but this specialty is not offered - try to go to a GYN floor or women's oncology floor, or maybe OR since that could help when you begin circulating on c-section cases.

Best of luck in your decision!

[Sheri257]

They don't allow us to work in specialty areas ... we pretty much have to stick with med surg. But we do have a choice of nurses and facilities when available.

For me personally ... I wanted a veteran, experienced nurse. In my experience new grads tend to be too twitchy when it comes to taking students. Veteran nurses are much more relaxed with students.

And I wanted a nurse I had already worked with and was comfortable with. I also chose the last hospital I did clinicals in ... just because I know where everything is, how their charting and the equipment works, etc.

It's just easier all the way around instead of trying to learn a new facility all over again. So ... I can just focus on doing a good job instead of worrying about the small stuff.

[PickMePlze]

I did 2 preceptorships, one for school on a oncology unit and one that I'm still currently doing on a telemetry unit. Oncology was intense and always busy even when the census was down. Telemetry is also busy but we always have at least 6 patients. I learned a lot on both. IMO telemetry at the hospital I'm at is almost the same as med-surg, the only difference is the cardiac monitoring. We still do the same stuff as med surg.