New Grads and Clinical Hours

[ilovenursing2009]

New Grads,

How many clinical hours did you have total when you graduated?

I wanting hear from BSN and ADN grads.:wink2:

I am curious because my school claims that we got more than any other school in the state.

I dont know if I believe it!!!

[BluegrassRN]

The state board specifies the minimum number of clinical hours each school must fulfill. It's up to the school to do the minimum, or more.

I'd guess that my clinical hours, including simulation labs, totaled around 700 for my ADN. That is absolutely a guesstimate.

[STjorg]

I also find in interesting that the UK/Australia/NZ clinical hour requirements are SO MUCH more. I wonder if the role of the nurse is different between the countries?? Or if it is a reflection on the education systems, how we train as nurses...

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

will have 900 hours when i finish my 20 month diploma program. :barf01:

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

6 hrs/week x 5 semesters = 600 hrs

+ 8 week summer internship (which was highly recommended, though not mandatory) at 40 hrs/week = 320 hrs

Total 920 hrs for BSN

Just realized I did this wrong. It was 12 hours/week, not 6 hours per week, so 1200+320 = 1520 hours.

[STjorg]

The UK Nurse's governing body (the NMC) determines the requirements for clinical and theory hours as:

"The balance of learning shall be 50% practical and 50% theory...A period of clinical practice of at least three months, towards the end of the pre-registration programme, is required to enable students to consolidate their education and their competence in practice"

The total hours from a university degree needs to be 4600 hours (2300 each) to be a qualified, registered nurse in the UK.

Do US nurses think they would have benefited from more clinical practice hours, and/or do UK nurses think they would have been adequate with fewer clinical practice hours?

Personally, as a UK nursing student, I think the extra hours have (so far) given me a great foundation for personal care and 'basic' (vital) patient care needs.

[Jasoninpa]

I don't know what the hours requirements for nursing students is in Pa, or how many hours CCAC's program includes officially. But, doing the math, it actually quite a few hours. 8hours/week x 16 weeks x 2 semesters=256 hours. Plus, last two semesters, we do I think 16 hours/weekx 16(2)=512. 512+256=768. And the total is actually higher than this, because for the last five weeks or so, we have a nurse mentor we work alongside. But I don't know the specifics on how many days a week and how many hours that is. So, in all, probably around 1000 or more hours completed in clinical for the ADN at CCAC.

That being said, the quality of the education is dependent on the instructor, sites, etc. You can spend 10 years in a setting, but if you aren't exposed to certain things, you will never learn them.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

each state has a requirement for clinical hours. Schools may exceed the minimum, but not meeting minimum is cause for the school to lose state certification