Are They As Brutal As People Say

[kbswife]

I have heard that nursing clinicals are brutal. For all that have gone thru them, are they as brutal as people say or are they just exaggerating?

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

I can remember typing away on this care plan we had to have prior to our clinicals, sleep deprived (no sleep for most of the night) typing frantically and thinking to myself at 0500, 1/2 an hour before hitting the shower to get ready "Is this worth it?! Is this worth it?!" Now, looking back...d&mn straight, it's worth it!

Tip from a survivor: Most easy thing to do during clinicals to impress your instructor is to look busy, even if you are a lazy SOB (and that's not short of breath!)

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

All I recall of my med-surg rotation was being too terrified to do anything.

Everyone was sick that semester and we had something like three different CI's.

The rest weren't bad at all. I learned a lot, although after I started working, I really felt that we should've had more clinical time, like they do in Canada.

[cloister]

For the most part, I hated my clinicals. I think this was due in part to being 20 years old with very little life experience, and partly due to clinical instructors who seemed to delight in jerking us around and reducing us to tears.

My psych rotation was the one exception. Joyce Basham, God bless her, was a wonderful psych instructor. I left that clinical experience with better communication skills, confidence in my ability to walk into a patient's room, and a darned good knowledge of psych meds.

Basically, though, I don't remember learning a lot in clinical - I think I learned more as a nurse's aide in a SNF. My first nursing job was on the job training.

Hope you get some really good clinical instructors! :wink2:

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

Brutal? Depends on your instructor and the nurses on the unit. You might feel good about some days and not so good about others. Don't expect to get much done.

Clinical doesn't turn you into a nurse. That comes with time. Clinical is about exposing you to the nursing world to get you thinking like a nurse and show you a glimpse of what you're signing up for. It can be frightening, humbling, fascinating and exciting. There's a lot of insight gained about just what sort of human being you are. Are you an adrenalin junkie? Do you like a slower pace? How comfortable are you with death and dying? What ruffles your feathers? How do you maintain a professional attitude and remain compassionate? How do you function in relationship to staff? Then the important one, is this what you really want? Lots and lots of layers to clinical beyond the technical. Yes, all of this can cause discomfort.

It will seem foreign to you until you've spent some time actually working as an RN. There might be some comfort gained by working in a hospital as a CNA while in school and during breaks.

Good luck to you and let us know how you're doing.

[Riseupandnurse]

Clinicals do not have to be brutal. Here is what clinical instructors want:

1. Fill out all your paperwork. Don't come in with blank spots. And read the corrections from the week before. Some clinical instructors spend a lot of time trying to help students by correcting their preps; it's frustrating to see the same errors week after week and know students aren't reading them.

2. Follow the rules. Show up on time. Don't chew gum or wear fake fingernails or do anything else that has been clearly spelled out not to do.

3. Be enthusiastic and take responsibility to think things through, as much as you are able. Example: Don't go to your instructor and say the patient needs "something for pain." How bad is the pain, where is it, what has the patient been taking for pain, what time did they last receive pain medication?

Many clinical instructors actually love what they do and are THRILLED when a student really wants to be a nurse. No, you don't have to be perfect; who is?

[KeechieSan]

It depends on the type of person you are. I am a really relaxed, non-stress type of girl, so I never really had a problem. Of course I got that "ugggh clinical I'm nervous" feeling, but it really isn't THAT bad.

A lot of people tend to over exaggerate how hard it really is. I mean, sure it is a lot of paperwork, and sometimes a lot of reading, but college is supposed to be that way!

So no, its really not brutal. It only gets brutal when you graduate :nuke:

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure what you mean by "brutal". Clinicals can be challenging on many levels, and tend to be anxiety-provoking for me. Fortunately, I have had nothing but wonderful clinical instructors and supportive fellow students, and have had very few bad experiences. The bad experiences I have had, I consider opportunities to learn and grow.

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

I was scared of some of the staff as they all seemed to want to assign the nursing students to some confused old lady who didn't have much going on other than they wanted to get out of bed every two minutes. This only happened in on an ortho floor in one particular hospital. I did have some trouble with a member of staff who was treating me as if I was the patients sitter and being paid as a sitter.

My instructors were mostly fine, and I don't remember too many problems with clinicals other than the rotation described above. Oh, and I had a surgical rotation where there was one surgeon making rude remarks about my french sounding last name.