How to be a better "clinical" student?

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Feb 18, 2006

http://www.cotc.edu/professional/streaming/archive/nursing.htm - this site has a number of videos of nursing procedures to view.

when you are in clinical areas, make opportunities for yourself. talk to the staff. let them know you would like to know if there are any procedures that they might let you do. when you hear of something, volunteer to do it, get in touch with your instructor and you are on your way! not every staff nurse or manager will be that accomodating, but some will, so take advantage of that. do the same with doctors who seem willing to teach. ask if they are planning to do any procedures and could you watch or assist. assisting is easy when you have a pleasant, helpful doctor and it is exciting when it is something you've never seen before.

let me reassure you that most graduate nurses are lucky to have done one of most common procedures. this is well known among all facilities who are in the business of hiring new graduate nurses. part of most new grad orientation programs is to get some experience doing procedures. however, the fact is that a lot depends on the area you end up working in. it may be years before you get to do your first trach care or colostomy bag change. then, again, you may end up inserting so many n/g tubes you could do it with your eyes closed. it's all very dependent on being at the right place at the right time. don't fret on this. the reason you read about and study these procedures is so you understand the major underlying concepts of sterility and asepsis as well as the anatomy of the body. i guarantee you that there will be a number of times when you are a seasoned rn when some procedure will come along that you will need to do that is new and you and most of the other staff you work with have never done before. it is your background and knowledge of fundamentals that carries you through.

DSplendid · Feb 18, 2006

HI ticmel:

I think everyone's clinical skills vary. I thought I was very comptent, when suddenly I had heard of a student doing 10x's more than me at her hospital. Don't think of it that way, skills will come, the ability to critical think, review labs, having strong assessment skills, being a pt. advocate, is something you can focus on now. I was very frustrated a few weeks ago, when I was missing out on many skills, b/c my instructor wasn't able to give me time. And she was the one that told me this," you have your whole career to learn skills, not just the rest of the semester, but even after graduate," The fundamentals of following up on your patients labs, or noticing contradicting meds, or of asking why they have this s/s, and not yet had this test, is what you really want to be able to do during rotation." And its true, I might not be able to know how to hang blood, but I can sure tell you that their having a reaction. If you wan't to practice skills, do your best to get into the lab, or at when you have down time at clinicals, ask to shadow a nurse while she does the procedure. I would grab nurses who I didn't even know, and ask if I could help. Good luck~

CrystalClear75, BSN, RN · Feb 18, 2006

Thanks Slendid and Daytonite.

I'm always afraid of bugging the nurses cause alot of them seem edgy and i just have this feeling their gonna get rude or something. Although, some are nice but, I guess i need some more guts.

rhapsodyRN · Feb 19, 2006

Don't worry, I felt the same way this week at clinicals. I'm in my second semester and my patient was discharged on our second day, and the other patients my instructor had marked as alternates were either discharged or didn't want a student at that time. I tried following a CNA around but that didn't get me very much to do (the night was actually kinda slow on the floor and then of course there's 6 more students that had patients. :)), so I let a couple of the nurses that I knew were nice from the night before know that I was patientless and would love to observe anything or help with anything I could. But I probably should have bugged a little more. Now that I have thought about it, next time I will have more guts. :rolleyes:

Good luck!

CrystalClear75, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2006

Don't worry, I felt the same way this week at clinicals. I'm in my second semester and my patient was discharged on our second day, and the other patients my instructor had marked as alternates were either discharged or didn't want a student at that time. I tried following a CNA around but that didn't get me very much to do (the night was actually kinda slow on the floor and then of course there's 6 more students that had patients. :)), so I let a couple of the nurses that I knew were nice from the night before know that I was patientless and would love to observe anything or help with anything I could. But I probably should have bugged a little more. Now that I have thought about it, next time I will have more guts.
Good luck!

Thanks:)

I guess it's a normal thing to feel nervous and stuff. I'm workin on it though. Good luck to you to!