Your best student experiences

[Darknights]

Hi,

My remote outback hospital is seriously understaffed. I love it when I am precepting students as it means we have an extra pair of hands. I think the experience for the student is better as we let them know we appreciate their presence.

I wondered if you could share your experiences as a nursing student when you are doing clinical. What experiences were the most memorable? What made you glad you were going to become a nurse? What experiences provided great learning opportunities?

Do you like feeling like one of the team or do you prefer to be a shadow of the RN? Do you mind helping with ADL's and learning early the value of good time management?

I welcome any feedback about this.

Dark nights

[HyperSaurus, RN, BSN]

Due to having off-rotations scheduled for my first two weeks, my first day on surgical was 3 weeks after everyone else and I was feeling pretty apprehensive about being behind everyone else in terms of experience. I think my instructor said something to my nurse or she was just amazing, because she continually pulled me aside with different things to do on patients besides my own. I was able to perform a bunch of skills for the first time that day because of the guidance of my nurse. That went a long way to helping me feel at ease in the med/surg atmosphere.

That said, I prefer being part of the team and actually helping to collaborate on care. I shadowed on my off rotations and that was a somewhat frustrating experience. I feel that I learn more by doing and planning than just observing. I tend to look for extra opportunities to help with ADLs and I don't feel entirely comfortable helping with certain aspects (for example, I am finishing up my first year of nursing school and clinicals, and I've helped with 2 bedpans).