Clinical and nursing shoes

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Jun 29, 2013

Good day:

The school(s) typically have agreements with specific hospitals, clinics, and so on. The school typically picks when and where. If you communicate with the school, they can often work with you if a given location is too far out of the way when another location may be closer.

Thank you.

Peppermint_RN · Jun 29, 2013

Our school picked the clinical site and the days/times. We did not have much say in the matter (quite a few students were driving over an hour each way to their clinical site! School just told them "maybe you could get a hotel?" Since they had to do prep the night before!)

I got my shoes at ShoesForCrews.com. you can't try them on though. But they have all white, leather, slip on or with laces, and (best of all) slip proof! Which is awesome if you have a LTC clinical and have to bathe patients in a shower room, or slip on urine/vomit/blood!

Good luck to you in school!

Audrey131 · Jun 29, 2013

The school picks the clinical sites and you have to go when they say you need to attend. They are only for a portion of school. I bought Nike shoes for clinicals and I love them!

gigglestarsRN · Jun 30, 2013

I had my orientation for nursing school back in May. We had a choice to purchase our uniform and shoes. I brought my uniform from the company that was there but the shoes was a bit expensive. So my question is where can I buy some leather white shoes?? I found this website called scrubshopper.com but I likes to try my shoes on!!!
I also have a question about clinicals. Do we pick the place we want to go or do the school choice for us. Is it like a job where you could have night clinicals? Do you have clinicals through out the whole 2 years? I know these are alot of question! What can I expect because I am confused about the whole clinical process?? Thanks

My school made the schedules and we had zero input. They didn't allow trading locations with other students either. Many had conflicts or child care type issues and it's not as if the school was not empathetic, but just could not acclimate special requests and changes. The attitude was if you want this bad enough then you will find a way to make it work, and most did :)

Good luck!

NightNerd, MSN, RN · Jun 30, 2013

Your school will pick your clinical sites and shifts. Our program has you start clinicals the first semester, but others may start after the first introductory course. You will not get much, if any, input into where and when you go to clinical; they have to bid on the opportunities and cannot accommodate many special circumstances.

To combat the exhaustion of getting up at 4:30 in the morning two days a week, 7 out of 8 ladies in my group carpool; the other stays with her boyfriend close to the clinical site (lucky!). It's really nice to have folks to ride with and keep me awake, and we spend parts of the ride reviewing, and sometimes we just vent.

As for the shoes, check out scrub shops near you; search on the internet and you should find some. I bought my NurseMates at a mall near me and they were on the reasonable side of things as far as price goes.

msnursecp · Jun 30, 2013

@carakristin1 Thanks so much!! What program are you in? I am going into the ADN and was wondering is we going to have clinicals all 4 semesters??

ScientistSalarian · Jun 30, 2013

Hi, I'm starting an ADN program in the Fall as well (Class of 2015, woo hoo!). We have clinicals through all four semesters, and we pretty much have to show up when and where they tell us to - "no special requests will be accommodated." We rotate through different settings as the program progresses (long-term care and obstetrics one semester, med-surg the next, etc.) though I think in the last semester we can pick an area of "specialization" (acute care, public health, etc.) for our last clinical assignment. Clinicals are generally scheduled two days a week from 6:00-3:00 or 7:00-4:00, though I've spoken to people going into the second year of our program who ended up working 2:00-11:00 for a few weeks because a certain hospital couldn't accommodate students during the day.

As for shoes, I have a pair of New Balance running shoes that I adore so I just found a similar style in white leather and ordered online along with some of those Dr. Scholls gel inserts - sooo comfy!

Shorty11, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2013

I am in a traditional BSN program in Texas. Fortunately, the city is large enough that we have an off-campus Simulation Center (i.e. programmed manikins in a mock hospital setting), 4+ nursing homes, 2 mental healthcare facilities, and a "good size" hospital all within 10 minutes of the campus. I guess I am lucky! We did get a little say in our clinical schedules. We filled out a form noting whether we preferred day or night shift and whether we were available to do any clinicals on weekends. They explained that this was to help out those who have jobs and/or children. Not everyone's requests were granted, but the professors did their best to accommodate. Most of my clinicals have been on weekdays, but since I always check that I am available on weekends, I have had some clinicals on Saturdays.

As for shoes, we have quite a few stores in my city that sell medical uniforms, shoes, and supplies. I prefer to try my shoes on as well (Different brands, different sizes!). I found a store in town that offered nursing students a 10% discount and would price match if we found the same item cheaper on a scrub/uniform website. If you have uniform shops in your town, call and ask if they have nursing shoes, offer a student discount, and/or will price match. I recommend that you purchase a pair or two of compression socks. I personally wear white Dansko clogs. They really help with making my legs feel less "tired" at the end of a 12 hr clinical.