Welcome to Dallas!
Im sure you've already heard the horror stories about the Senior I semester, so Ill spare you those and just answer your questions
In my experience, the senior I faculty was great. For the most part, they were readily available to answer questions or help whenever needed. Psych was probably the most difficult for me because a) Im not really interested in working in psych (even though you'll use your "therapeutic communication" no matter where you work) and b) there are a LOT of questions on the exam that were a bit... questionable. (Such is nursing school though, right?) If you study and pay attention in class, though, you'll be fine... I was at Parkland for my Psych clinicals and I have to admit that it was a bit scary at first (If you havent heard yet, Parkland is our county hospital...the majority of the patients we saw there were homeless or from a very low socioeconomic area. You will get a lot of experience with schizophrenia, paranoia, etc there) but I think it was a good experience. Most likely your clinicals will be half at Parkland and half at Zale (two hospitals which are connected) so you'll park in the garage across the street and just get your ticket validated so you dont have to pay) As far as safety goes, I was never uncomfortable because there is a skybridge from the parking garage to the hospital and the clinical doesnt start until 8 so you never have to walk around in the dark. (By the way...Zale is the polar opposite of Parkland... its very nice and clean and the cases you see there will be mostly bipolar disorder and depression)
Most of us felt like the Psych clinical went on too long. We were in the hospital from 8-2 (including post conference at the end) but after the first several weeks, you feel like you're doing the same exact thing every time and it becomes very monotonous (there is no patient care involved here... all you do is talk to the patients in the day room. At Zale, you have the opportunity to go to the scheduled activities so that kills some time, but Parkland doesnt have any activities for their patients... they just sit there all day. Sometimes you'll get to play cards or dominos with a patient or two, but that was rare for us.)
While at Parkland, though, try the pasta bar in the cafeteria... its fantastic!
Chronic was definitely my favorite of the three clinicals because I was at Childrens and peds is one of my interests. Unfortunately because you're working strictly with children, though, you do a lot more observation than actual "doing" and there is a great deal of down-time (but at least you can finish your care plan while you're there and you dont have to take it home with you!)
I hated Communities...HATED IT! lol Basically you are assigned to a school district (they are spread out from Dallas to Irving to Richardson, etc) I had Dallas ISD and I was at an elementary school in South Dallas. I felt like all I did was pass out band aids and ice packs all day and then I had to drive back to campus to discuss it in post conference for an hour and try to make it sound a little more interesting than that. Also, there is a group paper (UGH!) that you'll have to write regarding the community around your assigned school... they end up being 60-70 pages. its a complete pain in the rear and most of us felt like it was just busy work... dont wait too long to get started on that once its assigned because some instructors are VERY picky about how its done. (I suggest making an appointment with YOUR instructor after you've completed your rough draft to make sure its what she wants because the different instructors want different things and if you take advice from an instructor other than your own to format your paper, you may get a poor grade)
You'll be super busy this semester but as long as you dont let yourself fall behind, you'll do well.
Good Luck!!
~~Rachel
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