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Discussion

Clinical Preparation

Hey, I just finished my first semester of Nursing school. So, I start our next clinicals in January, and I'm curious what to expect. It's Adult Health Care 1 and I'm not sure what to expect. My first clinical (fundamentals) was pretty basic CNA stuff and some health assessment mixed in. I'm curious what tips I can get to help me succeed through next clinical i.e. certain meds that I should know like the back of my hand? I know the professor that we are going to have and she's a great professor, super kind, but def wants you to be prepared and more on top of your own learning, so I'm using my winter break to prepare. I've taken my break, took a vacation with the husband, and am returning back to life come the new year :)

All advice welcome! :D Thanks!!

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    I've found that virtually every patient I've had is on one (or more!) of the following: digoxin (or some other anti-arrythmia and/or anti-hypertension med), lovenox/heparin, insulin, and a diuretic. I'd start with memorizing the relevant info for them (therapeutic dose, contraindications, that dig needs an apical, what the BP needs to be to give the anti-hyper, etc). For labs, again, they've pretty much all had abnormal HGB, HCT, wbc, BUN/creatinine, glucose, MCV/MCH/MPV, Na, K, CO2, and/or anion gap. Memorize those normal values, and what low/high abnormals indicate and you'll be way, WAY ahead of the game when you start your clinicals this semester :)

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    Do you know what floor you'll be on? Our first semester we were on a med/surg/onc floor and the meds/assessment/patients were a lot different than the cardiac step down unit I got the second semester. Know insulin, heart meds, and diuretics - those are fairly standard. 4boysmama got the labs exactly right. The first semester is when you really start building on assessment skills, so be sure and know how to perform your bedside assessment. Good luck!

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    In my school, we started focusing on time management skills, assessment, heavy on pharmacology and computerized documentation.

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    I just found out I will be on the med/surg oncology floor

    thanks for the advice!

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    I just finished my semester clinicals in med/surg oncology. Every patient seemed to be on heparin/Lovenox, some type of combo antihypertensive cocktail (usually hydrochlorothyazide and an ACE inhibitor), and a lot of times they took insulin. We had a lot of cancer patients, but also a lot of GI surgery patients, mostly ileostomies. If you have any other questions, let me know.

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