OB, Peds, and Psych Clinical Rotations

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Hey All!

I was just curious how many of you have a mandatory OB, Peds, and/or Psych clinical rotation? At my school both OB and Peds are an elective clinical and a Psych clinical isn't offered. My program has 2 semesters of MedSurg clinical junior year instead.

I am going to try and get a Psych clinical for my Leadership class and I am hopeful that I will be able to get it because I am the only one out of my 50-ish student class that has any interest in doing Psych nursing.

I just really wish that instead of the 2 semesters of MedSurg clinical that they split the second semester up into an OB, Peds, and Psych rotation. So many people want to do OB or Peds and then when they end up in it they hate and vice versa with the people who think they will hate it love it and they potentially will never find out. The no Psych clinical makes me sad because there are so many misconceptions about people with mental illness. The mind fascinates me so I am excited about the possibility of getting a Psych clinicals.

I have manditory OB, PEDS & psych rotations. My first year was spent doing long-term care and then med-surg. next semester (fall 2009) I'm doing OB first rotation and then psych second rotation. PEDS isn't until my senior year.

Specializes in CICU.

First semester = fundamentals/med-surg1

Second semester = OB/med-surg2

Third semester = Psych / med-surg3

Fourth semester = Peds / med-surg4

So, yes, we have them all.

Specializes in Mental Health, Emergency, Surgical.

in australia, we have blocks of clinical placements. my uni doesn't give us as much clinical placement as other unis which sucks! and the way it is now, you do your first placement at the end of the 2nd year (which is at a nursing home.) then you first step into acute care in 3rd year.

this is what i had in my course (they changed it halfway through.) they are all full 7-8 hr shifts, 5 days a week with no uni during this time. but we do have assignments relating to the placements to do.

1st year 1st semester - 1 day at meals on wheels :lol2:

1st year 2nd semester - 3 weeks at a nursing home (this placement has been removed from the course.)

2nd year 1st semester - nothing

2nd year 2nd semester - 4 weeks at a hospital (i got emergency) this placement is now in a nursing home.

3rd year 1st semester - 8 weeks in a hospital (i got surgical)

3rd year 2nd semester - 8 week specialty practicum with a matching course running for the 8 weeks beforehand. i am doing mental health (other choices are perioperative, acute care, aged care, paediatrics, emergency, palliative care and primary health.)

we have a separate 3 yr degree for midwifery (rather than as a specialty) so they do all the obstetrics. the only way to do mental health is in the final practicum as a specialty, and paeds placements come up every now and then but there is huge competition for them.

some unis intersperse the clinicals throughout the program, a couple of days a week. i think that would be better as you could apply the theory to the practice as you are learning it. the way it is now, 2nd year we learn all the pathphysiology and med/surg. and 3rd year we learn all the professional organisation and ethics of nursing and do our acute care placements.

we actually get to put preferences in for our placement venue online. so they give us a list of places and based on our preferences they are allocated. they don't allow you to do 2 placements in similar areas. but it is possible to totally avoid areas of nursing, eg - if i chose hospital at home or an outpatient clinic, i could have gone through my degree never setting foot in med/surg or another ward (as my other placements are nursing home, emergency dept and mental health.)

my preceptor is worried that i have only 8 weeks to get up to speed with med/surg. i think there needs to be a spread of different areas and enough time spent in each one. 8 weeks in 3rd year is ridiculous; it's no wonder many of my classmates feel totally unprepared for registration as a nurse!

buttercup

Specializes in Orthopedic, Corrections.

I get 1/2 semester lecture in peds with three weeks clinical.

Whole semester lecture in psych with three weeks in clinical.

1/2 semester lecture in OB/newborn and 4 weeks in clinical.

The rest of our cllinical experience is med/surg.

We get 6 weeks preceptorship (3 12 hour days per week) in our speciality that we choose.

Specializes in Perinatal, Education.

I would check with your state's nursing board about what is required for licensure. It is my understanding that the state board sets these standards for schools. This may impact you later if you want to move and need to get licensed in a state that requires these clinicals. You may have to go back to school a bit at that time.

Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

Summer semester: 6 weeks OB

Fall Semester: 16 weeks Med/surg I & II

Spring Semester: 8 weeks Peds, 8 weeks Med/Surg III

Summer Semester II: 6 weeks Psych, 6 weeks Community Health

How many hours do you spend total in each area for clinical?

Quarter 1 = Fundamentals at LTC. 5 hours once a week, 10 weeks. 50 hours

Quarter 2 = OB, L&D, postpartum. 7 hours once a week, 10 weeks. 70 hours

Quarter 3 = Med/Surg. 10 hours once a week, 10 weeks. 100 hours

Quarter 4 = Med/Surg. 10 hours once a week, 10 weeks. 100 hours

Quarter 5 = Pediatric Med/Surg. 10 hours once a week, 10 weeks. 100 hours

Quarter 6 = Psych 10 hours once a week, 10 weeks. 100 hours

Quarter 7 = Management Med/Surg 8 hours twice a week, 10 weeks. 160 hours

OR preceptor (must be accepted) 40 hours a week, 10 weeks.

Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

I don't know what the clinical schedule is like for the rest of the terms. I just know the summer schedule--2 days/week, 8 hour shifts, 6 weeks=96 hours.

At my school in nursing 2, it's split up.....half the semester is OB and the other half is psych. I WISH we didn't have to do OB....I'm so not looking forward to it. I'd rather do more medsurg. Oh well. :/

Specializes in Home Health, Case Management, OR.

We had 8 weeks each of OB, Psych and Peds along with 8 weeks of class for each. We had 16 wks of med/surg in Concepts 1, which was 1st year, and we will have another 16 wks of med/surg in Concepts 2, which is our last class before our precepting.

Psych for me was utterly pointless. I learned nothing in my clinical sites as all we did was sit around and watch tv, or go to rec therapy with our pts. We didnt pass meds, or do head to toe assessments either. Just vitals....boring and NOT my preferred floor of interest!!

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I'm in a BSN program and here is how the nursing clinicals break down. Note that nursing clinicals start during the sophomore year.

Sophomore Year

  • Semester I - Foundations of Therapeutic Interventions (Lecture)
  • Semester I - Professional Nursing I (Lecture)
  • Semester II - Fundamentals of Nursing Practice (6 Weeks - Gerontology/LTC)
  • Semester II - Physical Assessment (Lecture & Lab)

Junior Year

  • Semester I - Maternity Newborn Nursing (15 Weeks)
  • Semester I - Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing (15 Weeks)
  • Semester II - Nursing of Children and Families (15 Weeks)
  • Semester II - Adult Health Nursing I (15 Weeks)

Senior Year

  • Semester I - Adult Health Nursing II (15 Weeks)
  • Semester I - Public and Community Health Nursing (15 Weeks)
  • Semester II - Contemporary Professional Nursing (Lecture)
  • Semester II - Transition to Professional Nursing Practice (15 Weeks - Student Selected)

I think it offers a nice opportunity to see a variety of patients and work in a large number of settings.

!Chris :specs:

1st semester- fundies

2nd semester- beginning med-surg.

3rd/4th semester- 6 weeks peds./ 6 weeks ob./6 weeks psych. (this extends into the first half of summer- awesome! mandatory summer school)

5th semester- advanced med-surg.

so far, i have taken peds and ob, psych starts next week for me. i LOVED these semesters! i have never really wanted to have children, but after working ob, i'm thinking about becoming an L&D nurse! it was so exciting and amazing! i really enjoyed these semesters, b/c you're actually able to breathe a bit. class is only one day a week, along with one 12 hour clinical day. the whole system has completely changed though, and our school will finally have a 4 semester program.

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