Advice for first clinical rotation?

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My clinical group and I are going into our first ever clinical rotation next week onto the Med/Surg unit. I'm super excited but I'm also VERY nervous, mostly because I don't know what to expect, how to act, what to do/what not to do, etc.

What do you wish you knew going into your first clinical? What advice do you have for us going into our first rotation? What worked for you or didn't work for you?

Any tips or advice are greatly appreciated!

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Do your best to act like you belong there while keeping in mind limits of your scope of practice. Take every opportunity you can for patient contact, as the first clinical rotation is really about developing comfort with being intimately close to and providing care for complete strangers. What the first rotation entails will vary by school. We focused on getting our assessments done and then it was a lot of nurse aid type work, really emphasizing the patient contact elements. We weren't able to pass meds in our first quarter. The biggest thing I can say is that even though you'll probably feel like a deer learning to walk, fake confidence and the patients will believe in you and in turn, you'll eventually truly believe in yourself.

Good luck. It is an exciting time!

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You will have slacker classmates who provide pt. Care and then plop down in the nursing station or conference room. Don't do this! Always ask "what else can I do?"

Also, you will realize quickly that all of your classmates are better/worse in specific areas. I'm better at picking out pt. Potential illness, but I am shaky with injections. I help my class mates and they help me.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

There are nurses that love having students and there are nurses that don't mind having students but may be having a bad week/day or there are nurses that generally don't like students.

Be respectful of the nurses station and the computers, yes students need to look stuff up on their pt, the nurse working actually has to do pt care for a full assignment.

Be like a sponge, clinical is where you put nursing theory into practice, don't stay focused on your one pt, ask the nurses there if there is something interesting or a procedure going to be done, could they let you know so you can watch.

Seeing as much as you can, getting exposed to as much as you can, even if you are not doing the procedures yet, you will be able to learn something

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Fake it till you make it!

Seriously, this couldn't be any more true for the beginning of every new clinical placement. Work as a team whenever possible and make sure you have your prep work done so you're not stuck stressing out about not knowing an answer. Remember that this is a learning environment, you're not expected to know everything right off the bat, so ask for help and learn from everyone. Some nurses LOVE students, others not so much. And like a previous member stated, don't be the student that sits around when "there's nothing to do"

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

Expect to do "grunt work". It's called basic pt care. It's not exactly exciting or glamorous.

Some students really resent it. I didn't mind. I often joke that I became really good at My CNA skills during nursing school! Lol! And yes, these skills served me well as a nurse. I'm proud of myself that I know how to provide good pt care.

The way my school was set up, you can only pass meds or do procedures with the instructor, during the first semester. This meant that 9 of us were without an instructor while 1 got to pass meds or do a procedure. The only things we could do alone involved basic pt care.

Just know that, typically the first and sometimes 2nd semester, you may not be allowed to do the things that many people think of as, "nursing care". You will

Make beds, give bed baths, showers to residents, etc.

We had a lot of "down time", which I used to pore over charts. I looked at the commonly given meds, common diagnosis and looked up the meds in my drug book.

We took a lot of vital signs, etc. Passed meal trays and helped feed residents who were unable to feed themselves.

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Specializes in Hospice.

Don't stand around with your group and complain about being "bored" when the regular floor staff are running around coping with everything they have to do.

I once heard a student say that several times, talked to her CI and with her ok, velcroed that student to my side for a shift. Apparently "I'm bored" was a frequent refrain from this particular student.

MedSurg unit in the 90s-my team consisted of 7 patients, post ops, peritoneal dialysis, meds, IV starts, blood transfusion, documentation. Eight hour shifts, expectation was you got your work done in that time or your time management skills were suspect.

She never complained about being bored again.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Recovery.

I posted this elseware

https://allnurses.com/post8677897-num14.html

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Don't turn down an assignment. If something bothers you where you feel uncomfortable working with a patient, tell your instructor what's going on.

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Thank you all for this advice, these are great tips!

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If a nurse (or whoever) asks you if you want to do something (assist with pt

Care, tasks/skills etc), dont say no! Ever!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/advice-for-nursing-886598.html
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