Advice for Clinicals?

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Hi,

I'll be starting my first clinicals in one week and I am terrified and unsure of what to really expect. I will be placed in a nursing home. Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you so much in advance.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the General Student discussion forum

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Hi! I completely understand how you feel, I was also very anxious before my first clinical. First, take a deep breath because everything will be okay!

Since you have your first clinical in a nursing home, you should expect to meet with your clinical group and instructor first. You will probably be assigned 1 patient. Your tasks will include providing basic care for the patient including a bed bath, vital signs, walking the patient, etc. My advice is to learn from the nursing aides that work on the floor. They will teach you a lot. Don't hesitate to ask for help. Good luck.

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Get a lot of rest because it will be a long day! The reason most schools start you in a nursing home is that this is, in general, long-term care - so things are a slightly slower pace and follow a general routine every time you're there. It is scary to be new on the floor, but you will have a clinical instructor who hopefully will guide you. Usually they will arrange to meet your group 30 mins or so before - give you a briefing for the day, then you'll get placed in an section. It really depends on your instructor and what their expectations are, but in general you'll be expected to demonstrate the skills you have been covering at school such as vitals, giving injections, assessment, and med pass.

My advice would be to seek out every experience you can. Is there a wound to dress? Is anyone there on a trach or a G-tube? Any unusual disorders you could observe? Could you assist with a bed bath? Ambulating a client? Accuchecks? Listen to the patients, connect with them - many will be lonely and love the company. If you have the chance to observe patient records (always keep HIPAA in mind though!) really try and digest the content and look for the patho of the disease, how it is treated, and learn how to make the nursing diagnosis.

Every minute you are there is am opportunity to learn. It may not be where you see your future, but it is the ideal starting place!

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Everyone above gave you great advice, and I can't agree enough with the part about "befriending" the aids! They are less stressed than the nurses and know all of the ins and out, I have found them to be very helpful and kind resources when the nurses are too busy.

This next part might seem odd and was more a product of bad luck than anything, but if it helps one person...My very second clinical day ever, my assigned pt was discharged so the instructor just picked someone one the fly. She was in her mid 40's, obese and had idiopathic head aches. I am late 40's, in shape and was previously in the entertainment business (no, not ADULT entertainment lol). She said she had looked into nursing but "decided against it" and was SO friendly, she asked me a million questions about myself. Long story short, at the end of the day she complained about me to my instructor saying I was unprofessional and she both took things waaay out of context and also outright lied. I can only think she was a very unhappy person who was jealous of me, partially because I was doing something she wanted to do, and in retrospect I don't think she could get in to nursing school resented the fact that I had.

So I had only been in in NS for a short time and this was my second clinical day ever and I was called in to a disciplinary meeting :o

Luckily, they believed me and switched out my clinical assignment and I should be graduating at the end of this semester. I came very very close to quitting the program. I was so shocked and hurt and scared that if a patient that I had done nothing but shower with kindness could go out of their way to act that maliciously to a near stranger, did I even want to be a nurse anymore?

Hopefully this seldom happens, but I learned the hard way to not tell anyone anything about me, no matter how kindly the questions were phrased. They know where I go to school, that I am a student and that I have two dogs. And that is IT!

Good luck to you!!!

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