Another first day of clinicals post...

[Sbhayes09, ADN, RN]

So I start clinicals next Friday in my first semester of nursing school. I will be on the palliative/hospice care floor at the hospital and want any advice that any of you may have. I've read most of the 'first day of clinicals' posts on here so I feel like I have a good idea of what to expect but I'm mostly interested in what palliative/hospice clinicals may be like. A little background, I have no formal nursing experience. My only nursing experience was 2 weeks of CNA clinicals in an LTC facility. I've never dealt with a patient death directly or postmortem care. I'm excited for this opportunity because I feel like it might calm some of my fears and anxieties dealing with death. Here's hoping for a successful semester and an exciting time at clinicals! Thanks everyone!

[Shawn91111]

Had my first last semester in LTC facility. This semester is on the Med/Surg floor at the hospital, but was postponed to this week because of the east coast snow storm. Good luck

[emmjayy, BSN, RN]

Expect to do a lot of turning and positioning, oral care, cleaning bottoms/changing soaker pads, emptying Foleys, and a set of vitals every now and then. You may be asked to sit with a patient who doesn't have family members there with them. Patients (if they are able) or families may want to talk to you and discuss what is going on and how they feel about it, which can be a kind of heavy conversation.

Patient deaths affect everyone differently. If you've never seen a body before it could be weird. Even if you have seen a body, it can be unsettling to actually handle one (pulling lines, closing the eyes/jaw, positioning, etc.) Fortunately, you'll have someone there with you to guide you through it and to talk to about your questions/feelings about it.

[Sbhayes09, ADN, RN]

Had my first last semester in LTC facility. This semester is on the Med/Surg floor at the hospital, but was postponed to this week because of the east coast snow storm. Good luck

Good luck to you as well! We've been dealing with the snow here too :).

[Sbhayes09, ADN, RN]

Expect to do a lot of turning and positioning, oral care, cleaning bottoms/changing soaker pads, emptying Foleys, and a set of vitals every now and then. You may be asked to sit with a patient who doesn't have family members there with them. Patients (if they are able) or families may want to talk to you and discuss what is going on and how they feel about it, which can be a kind of heavy conversation.

Patient deaths affect everyone differently. If you've never seen a body before it could be weird. Even if you have seen a body, it can be unsettling to actually handle one (pulling lines, closing the eyes/jaw, positioning, etc.) Fortunately, you'll have someone there with you to guide you through it and to talk to about your questions/feelings about it.

Thank you so much! This helps more than you know :)