Clinical frustration

Nursing Students LPN/LVN Students

Published

Ok, so i have to vent a little,

My LPN class are going to be in clinicals for the next month, starting tommorrow. We recieved our schedule a month ago. I have made plans for child care, some clincals begin @ 5:30 am. I have been to all the places I was suppose to go to make sure I knew where they were. I was all set.

Then today I was given a new clinical schedule. I am not going to be NOT 1 SINGLE place I was suppose to be and it starts tommorrow!!!!! I was going to get 2 full weeks of peds and 2 weeks of med-surg. Now all im doing is home health and city schools. grads K-5. The reason being is they needed people to help give hearing and vision test to all the school systems!!!!!!! Of course it will be fun and really easy, but I just feel ripped-off. All I have done so far is CNA stuff @ the LTC facility. We arent having clinicals again untill March and I suppose to graduate the end of April. I was really counting on getting training at the hospitals, I mean when I start working and someone ask me to insert a cath, what am I going to say. We dont have labs or dummy's at our school to practice on either, Im just getting really stressed out about it.........

Thanks for letting me vent.......it helps to get it out. I try to tell my hubby but he doesnt understand. I know all of you can relate.

Thanks again

Michelle

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Hi Michelle. Will you get some med-surg, peds, etc clinicals prior to graduating? If not, I would consider asking about this. I agree this is a bum deal because arranging day care isn't that easy all the time. Good luck - you seem to be taking this in stride. Good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I was fortunate to receive clinical rotations in a variety in healthcare settings. However, 99 percent of my learning has occurred on the job. I did not catheterize any patients during school because the situation did not arise, even though I had several med-surg clinical rotations at big city hospitals.

I have also been blessed to have coworkers who have the patience to train me and answer my questions. You are not expected to know every skill upon completing your LPN program, as learning is a lifelong process. Future employers do not expect new LPNs to know everything.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I feel your pain, we had the same thing with unpredictible schedules and clinical changes. No matter how good your clinical experience is there will be skills that you didn't get a chance to try or aren't comfortable doing alone when you first start your new job so try not to be too stressed out. I don't think there is anything wrong with saying something like: "I didn't get a chance to do XXX during my clinical rotations but would love to learn if you would be kind enough to show me how" Hang in there, just put in your time and get through it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Oh I will for sure ask about med-surg. I know we are going to be doing peds. I just noticed some in my class are doing med-surg. a few are getting 3 weeks!!!!!!! It should have been split up better than that.

I take everything in stride, thats one of my problems. I need to be more assertive, when my future career is on the line.

Thanks for replying

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thanks guys, I needed to hear that badly.I can feel some of the stress starting leave me now. I guess i feel like I need to know SO much more than can be possibly covered in training. Its nice to hear about facilities that will help train and teach, and hopefully have really good co-workers

I am the type of person who always over studies, and over prepares for EVERYTHING. I always feel like I have to completely ready for it all.

I guess I will be getting over that soon enough:p

Thanks again

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Registry, all over the place.

I believe that's why our program didn't give us a schedule. We might hold them to it. There have been times they changed our clinical site at 11pm the night before. For me, night before clinical is free night, no studying becasue I have no school for the next 2 days, why would I be up to answer the phone at 11pm? Or better yet leave a message at 6:30am that 6:45 clinical was cancelled and you've already left the house?!!!!? I just look at everyday as one less day I have to put up with messed up clinicals, missing instructors, bogus tests, and nursing school in general! Until RN of course.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in geriactric care- no place i'd rather be!.

i'm sorry to hear about all your frustration. i guess i really have no room to vent here. i thought my rotations were bad because of the student/instructor ratio (a lot of paging and waiting), but sounds like i have it really good.

we started clinicals 6 weeks in to our first semester. we had them thursday and friday all day for the 5 months the semester lasted. now that we have started second semester, we jumped back in on the third day of class. now we go wednesday and thursday all day. we get 6 weeks in each of the following: labor and delivery, peds, geriactrics, med/surg. i think we get the most clinical time of all the schools in Kansas.

anyway, i'm new to the site so i'm just kinda looking around. hope things get better, just stick it out until graduation and then it will just be a thing of the past.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Ok, so i have to vent a little,

My LPN class are going to be in clinicals for the next month, starting tommorrow. We recieved our schedule a month ago. I have made plans for child care, some clincals begin @ 5:30 am. I have been to all the places I was suppose to go to make sure I knew where they were. I was all set.

Then today I was given a new clinical schedule. I am not going to be NOT 1 SINGLE place I was suppose to be and it starts tommorrow!!!!! I was going to get 2 full weeks of peds and 2 weeks of med-surg. Now all im doing is home health and city schools. grads K-5. The reason being is they needed people to help give hearing and vision test to all the school systems!!!!!!! Of course it will be fun and really easy, but I just feel ripped-off. All I have done so far is CNA stuff @ the LTC facility. We arent having clinicals again untill March and I suppose to graduate the end of April. I was really counting on getting training at the hospitals, I mean when I start working and someone ask me to insert a cath, what am I going to say. We dont have labs or dummy's at our school to practice on either, Im just getting really stressed out about it.........

Thanks for letting me vent.......it helps to get it out. I try to tell my hubby but he doesnt understand. I know all of you can relate.

Thanks again

Michelle

I am not shocked to hear this. I just graduated from a new program that had to take anyplace available for clinicals and also hired clinical professors at the last minute who worked in the day. I had evening clinicals, from 3-10pm. The clinical instructors were so tired that they used to come at 4 and let us leave at 7 pm, so forget about doing any real care. I got my license in June, and started orientation at the hospital that paid my way though school, and I knew NOTHING. There is always an angel around to help, and that was what I had to do. I only did the foley on a dummy, but my first experience in inserting a foley was two weeks ago, on this 78 year old woman that weighed 350 pounds. However, the RN was right there next to me, and it literally went in like a spoon to a can of soup. Within a few weeks, I was hanging piggybacks like the rest of them; a bit slower, but it came to me eventually.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment