Advise for upcoming clinical

nethmzd · May 24, 2011

I agree,thanks:)

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 25, 2011

Help out, answer call lights when they aren't your patients if you are able to. Let other nurses know on your unit that you would love to have the opportunity to do any skills or procedures they might have. Only if they don't have students. A lot of the skills I got to do were not even my patients. Show initiative, you get out of clinicals what you put into them. Also remember, these are places you might try to get a job. Make a good impression and stand out. That way when you graduate and you go to interview, they remember you as the student that went above and beyond.

nethmzd · May 25, 2011

Thank you:)

Rhody34 · May 25, 2011

I agree with a lot of what other have said... Some of these are repeated, but I think are extremely important...

1. Be on time, and Be prepared! I feel like this is MOST important. KNOW the meds you will be responsible for that day. Know how they are given, side effects, rate they are given, etc. etc. Know your pts diagnosis and what you will be doing that day in terms of patient care, and what to focus on.

2. Answering call lights (if youre allowed) I also totally agree with. Its a great way to learn, and its also a great way to learn how to communicate with lots of different types of people.

3. Be confident, and show your instructor you know your stuff, but at the same time, dont hog the lyme light. Being knowledgeable is a great asset, being a know it all is obnoxious LOL

4. Be yourself, and work hard. And take everything you can away from the experience... the patients you care for during clinicals will help shape you into the nurse you will be!

Bhavana · May 25, 2011

Listen and learn. Unless you know everything, speak only when spoken to or asked a question. Acting like a know it all is clinical suicide, they will go out of their way to make sure you know that you DO NOT know it all. Be humble and show respect to the instructor. Keep a low profile. Show up on time, uniform clean and pressed. If you are wearing white, and it starts to look yellowish, go out and splurge on some new scrubs, they are cheap and how you look DOES matter to many instructors.

Be prepared for whatever it is that you will be doing that day - read any associated chapters, have any assignments done and ready to turn in, have your stethoscope, penlight, etc. at hand and ready to use. Be organized. Be ready for anything!! Most of all, be positive and cheerful and eager to learn. You'll do great! Good luck!

tsydnes · May 25, 2011

The best thing I brought to clinicals was a program on my pda that had my Davis drug book, Taber's medical dictionary, ect. Look on Skyscape.com under students and check out the nursing constellation plus. It was a valuable resource during clinicals and impressed the nurses when I could whip it out and look up a drug or medical diagnosis at the bedside.

Bhavana · May 25, 2011

A Kelly clamp is a set of forceps without teeth. You probably won't need that, my school didn't require it. Your school should provide you with a list of supplies that you need to bring to clinical. For us it was a stethoscope, scissors, watch, penlight, and our iPod touches.

I wish my school had required the iPod - heck of a lot more convenient than lugging around the Davis Drug book! We needed the steth, scissors, watch, penlight, bandage tape, black ink pens, and small forceps WITH teeth. Always be sure to carry xtra batteries for your penlight, or an extra penlight. Mine was always dead, probably because I left it on too many times. Something else I found convenient for clinical was a small notebook, small enough to fit in the average scrub pocket, the best are those index card notebooks. Better than having to carry a clipboard around, or loose pieces of paper. I was always forgetting that stuff, leaving it behind in patient rooms, etc.

Other things you may need to carry in your bigger bag - bottled water, snacks, a good med/surg book for looking things up if necessary when working on care plans (Lippencotts Straight A's in Med-Surg Nursing is a good, and smallish book) and also those little pocket nursing books, they have them for every subject, at least get one on meds. Also keep paper, and extra copies of care plans or anything else required.

For us females, a good sized makeup bag with all those necessary feminine things - including deodorant, hand lotion, etc, I bought a lot of those little sample sizes at the drug store. If your scrubs are dark colored like ours were, carry a lint brush.

GiantJerk · May 25, 2011

For us females, a good sized makeup bag with all those necessary feminine things - including deodorant, hand lotion, etc, I bought a lot of those little sample sizes at the drug store. If your scrubs are dark colored like ours were, carry a lint brush.

Deoderant is huge! I had one clinical rotation where I worked my butt off and got pretty sweaty. At the end of the day my teacher pulled me aside and let me know that I had some wicked BO. I was so embarrassed, but from that day on I brought a little stick of antiperspirant in my bag just in case I needed to "refresh".

The iPod was an awesome tool, even if your school doesn't issue you one or require one I'd recommend it if you can afford it. As an iPod it gets past some hospital's no phones on the floor policies. Just be sure and tell your patients what you are doing if they see you with it so they don't think you are just texting or something.

JROregon, ASN, BSN, RN · May 25, 2011

Many nurses are not going to want to deal with you when you are new so make yourself useful for the first few weeks by doing your patient assessments, answering those call lights and any help you can offer the CNAs. Ask if you can watch procedures being done like Foley catheter placement, NG tube placement, IV starts (although this is something we will learn at the end of the 2nd year) and anything you haven't been trained to do yet. Offer to do those skills that you have learned. When you find a great nurse, ask if you can watch her/him go through the process of admitting or discharging a patient. Ask your clinical instructor for feedback. There will usually be something you could have done better. Be a great listener for your patients, especially the ones that need a caring ear.

florence66 · May 25, 2011

Great advice! I'll be starting nursing school in August and all these tips will come in very handy. Especially the iPod idea. Thanks so much!

nethmzd · May 26, 2011

Wow, thank you all for great advice. I 'm not sure I can afford iPOD, maybe I can just purchased A small drug book. Again, thanks for honest advice. You guys are all awesome.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 26, 2011

Many nurses are not going to want to deal with you when you are new so make yourself useful for the first few weeks by doing your patient assessments, answering those call lights and any help you can offer the CNAs. Ask if you can watch procedures being done like Foley catheter placement, NG tube placement, IV starts (although this is something we will learn at the end of the 2nd year) and anything you haven't been trained to do yet. Offer to do those skills that you have learned. When you find a great nurse, ask if you can watch her/him go through the process of admitting or discharging a patient. Ask your clinical instructor for feedback. There will usually be something you could have done better. Be a great listener for your patients, especially the ones that need a caring ear.

You don't learn only IV starts until the end of the second year or all of those? We learned all but IV starts first semester and then IV 3rd semester. Just curious if you were only meaning IV starts. I did my first foley placement in my 2nd semester, assisted in my firs and now my preceptor nick named me the "urethra whisperer" lol