Anxiety about first clinical

Do-over, ASN, RN · Oct 30, 2008

My first clinical day was very easy - no patient care. We had a hospital orientation, surgical orientation, a tour, went over policies, expectations, and the syllabus. The next day, we had a scavenger hunt on our unit and helped out with baths and bed changes, and checked-out with the instructor on vital signs.

Second week (just finished), we did AM care and a head-to-toe assessment. Then, I spent about 4 hours in the chart and med book =). Then, I spent countless hours at home looking up meds and attempting to write a care plan.

So, I am glad to have an instructor that doesn't just throw us in the deep end...

Good luck - it won't be as bad/difficult/scary as you think:D

Neoma · Oct 31, 2008

Take a deep breath. I'm a first semester nursing student, also. We did long-term care the first sixth weeks, and just started our second rotation for this semester at the hospital this week. They are totally different animals.

For our first rotation, we were shown around the facility and oriented on where to find what we needed. We knew going in what skills we were going to have to work on; patient histories, and head to toe assessments. Our clinical instructor paired us up for our first day at the LTC facility. That helped because most of us have no medical background. You can always ask to see if this is something that would be allowed. We were required to have an assessment book and RN notes pocket guide. We all carry our with us to each clinical, as well as our PDAs.

As I said, we just started our hospital rotation this week, but we seemed to have more time with our clients in the hospital than we did in LTC. I took the same items with me, but we are able to give meds now, and will be doing check-offs for injections this coming week.

Just be patient with yourself. If don't know something, don't be afraid to ask. The anxiety level will go down once you get in there and start doing it. If at all possible, practice on families and friends for assessments.

Are you going into LTC or a hospital? What check-offs or skills are you expected to perform once you start?

Good luck, and try not to stress too much. The facility employees and clients you care for know you are students, and the clients I've dealt with so far have been very patient and sweet.

Maryann

chicookie, BSN, RN · Nov 1, 2008

My first day at clincal was .........something else.

I had one patient. It was 6:45 and I did not want to go in and wake up my patient. I was afraid to say the least. My clinical instructor told me that she would go in with me, and I was walking into the room when I heard the door close behind me. She left me in the room with the patient by myself. =o I gathered my courage introduced myself to my patient, asked if he needed anything and ran out. She was waiting for me outside of the room and asked me how it went. I was mad but at least had gone in there. Then came the time to do my first assessment. My prof. sent me in with a student who was a CNA and she was showing me what to do and she told me listen to bowel sounds. Which I did and I was like I can't hear anything and every time I pressed down the patient got this pained look on his face. She then told me lift up his shirt. He had a thick dressing from his mid chest all the way to his pant line and underneath the dressing a big gaping hole. No wonder I was hurting him. Needless to say after the first day I felt like an utter failure since I couldn't do anything right. My pt got mad at me a couple of times. But I stuck with it. Now I have finished nursing school and I look back and I see how far I have come. Now I go in confident and I have a good time on the floor. Yes the first day could be good, could be bad but you will grow and become an awesome nurse. Just do your best! :nurse: