When getting pt. info day before clinical...

kstec, LPN · Jul 16, 2007

When I did my clinicals we also went to meet our patient the evening before. All I did was introduce myself and let them know I would be the student nurse assisting in their care tomorrow. They didn't ask me to do anything for them and if they had I would just go get their nurse for that shift.

TruDivaRN, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2007

Our clinical instructors have made it clear we are not to step inside our client's rooms until clinical day. :nono: I think that it is wonderful that you are allowed to "chat" with the client before clinical. This gives you time to ask the client ?'s that may not be inside the chart. It also makes the client more at ease when you enter the client's room the next am.

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 16, 2007

Granted, I am old and was a nursing student many years ago. But back then, it was standard practice to introduce yourself to your patients the day before. We were even encouraged to do a little interview with them if possible to get a few of our assessment questions answered. (You should ask your instructor about current policy before you do anything like that.)

If they ask you to do something for them, just say you are not allowed to provide any care for them because it is not your official class time and your instructor is not on the unit. Then offer to pass their request on to the appropriate person.

MikeyJ, RN · Jul 16, 2007

Thanks all for the quick responses, as I am going to head over to the hospital in a few hours. Perhaps I will poke my head in today and ask my patient how they are doing.

The county hospital I am doing my clinicals at has an abundance of spanish-speaking clients, so that would definitely hinder me from speaking to them the day before, unless they had family there to translate for me.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2007

of course, you can go and talk to a patient! you are a visitor. tell them up front, "i'm a student nurse that is going to be assigned to take care of you tomorrow and i would like to talk with you for a few minutes if you don't mind." if they ask you to do something for them that involves personally touching them or would have to involve checking with the chart, you merely say, "you need to use your call bell to get help. i can't assist you if my instructor isn't on the premises. it's an insurance issue. it's a school rule. i'm just visiting today".

if you need a guide as to what information to get from the chart, refer to this post: https://allnurses.com/forums/2228927-post5.html

WDWpixieRN, RN · Jul 16, 2007

We weren't given direction either way for our first 2 semesters of clinicals. I heard a gal say last semester she was going in to introduce herself and I thought that was a nice idea. It probably helps not to slam them with your (surprise!) appearance the next morning. For someone like me, who's NOT a morning person, I know I would appreciate the intro the day before when I'm wide awake.

I am definitely going to ask this semester's instructor what their take is on this idea. As for being worried about them asking for something, most of the pts I've had haven't been too demanding and I would be more surprised if they did ask for something after an intro about being their SN for the next day. If they did, as always, Daytonite has the perfect response!! Of course you could always offer to try to find their aide or nurse, but if they're busy or hard to track down, then you could be setting yourself up to spend more time than you had planned.

Best wishes!!

IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Jul 17, 2007

but I know for a fact if I step foot in that room and talk with my patients, they are going to ask me to do something which would be me in an akward position.

I always go in. It's mandatory.

If you go in and they ask for something you politely tell them that you are not allowed to do anything without your instructor on the floor, you would love to help but just can't. Then offer to help get the nurse or suggest they push the call bell and somebody will be there soon. Patients have always responded well to that.

StudentNurseAbby · Jul 17, 2007

I don't but some of my group does. My reason for not doing it is because they were discharged like crazy on the unit and I was never sure if who I prepared for would be my patient in the morning. I liked it a lot better to show up early in the morning, go in and introduce myself and chat for a minute before I passed them their meds.

My instructor never told us we had to but we knew it was allowed. It was just my personal preferance not to.

amyk_ncsu · Jul 17, 2007

We are allowed to if we want, but not required to. Last semester I usually ended up with patients in the PACU, so often I would meet them down there and look at the chart. I usually introduced myself, but I seriously doubt they remembered me the next morning!

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2007

We are NOT allowed to contact our patients until the day of clinical...think someone did some kind of CNA thing with one, without being employed there or checking with staff.....

I get all my info the night before, and by the end of the first 8 weeks, we were told by week 5 that we would only get the time before preconf...think 40-50 mins to look up chart info, but instructor would bring patient summaries to class with identifiers chopped off the day before...

Personally, I feel that it's very similar to being a professional, as you go in to start your shift, to assess your patient and it's just like starting your day with said patient. The only rule is to check on your patient before preconf(if up, you can talk with them), as one girl did not check chart or anything before and wound up listing a whole day's worth of care, only to discover that patient had expired at 4AM that morning....WHOOPS.

Megsd, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2007

My first quarter when we did prep the day before we had to go talk to our pt and ask questions like why (in their own words) they were admitted, if they have any concerns, if they have been told anything about discharge plans, etc. We also had to write down any tubes, IVs, fluids, etc. currently running.