Childbearing & Psych/Mental Health Nursing Clinicals - 2nd year BSN

[lilfayfay]

Hi guys, I'm just wondering what to expect? Will it be the same as Medical Surgical and Telemetry clinical or something completely different? I would like a list of what to expect. Based on my clinical experience as a nursing student in Medical Surgical and Telemetry, I've noticed there's a certain pattern of how I took care of my patients: (some examples from the top of my head are #1. get report #2. take vital signs, #3. head to toe assessment, #4. check labs, MAR, physician's orders).

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

My experience was similar in that we gave meds and did head-to-toe assessments (plus the OB focused assessments that you don't do in med-surg), read the pts' histories, create care plans etc.

They were different in that there was less ADLs, more focus on therapeutic communication (particularly in psych), and more to observe other than our assigned pt. For example, in OB we spent some time in the well-baby nursery (granted, more common in the early 2000s than they are now), watched a circumcision (poor baby!), and some of us got to attend deliveries. I wasn't able to, but my classmates said they functioned as a support person, since students really aren't taught enough fetal monitoring or how to check the cervix. In psych, we sat in on some group therapy and observed an ECT treatment.