Clinical rotation in the PACU?

[sKris]

I just recieved my clinical rotation for the fall and it looks like I am asigned to the PACU at a major hospital. This is my med/surg rotation and I will be there for 14 weeks (8-9 hour shift once a week). While I think being in the PACU will be very interesting, it seems like there won't be much exposure to many areas of the basic nursing care which is what I thought we were suppose to be learning in med/surg. I've read so much about being assignend a patient and making care plans for clinicals but how will that work when PACU patients come and go in a matter of hours? After this I get 5 wks of OB, 5 wks of public health, and 5 wks of peds in the spring and then my preceptorship over next summer. Anyone else spent a significant portion of their clinical time in a PACU?

PS My son had surgery on Monday, and I must say the PACU nurses at the outpatient surgery center were awesome. My son was in so much pain and they were prompt, compassionate, and extremely attentive.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

ooh, you lucky duck. my first job out of school was in a pacu and after a few months i was asked to precept students. they came in thinking a lot like you, or else scared to death. i told them we did everything they had already learned in school, only we did it faster and more often all day long, and they were going to see and do a lot more here than on the m/s floor.

i don't know what you think you'll be missing out on, but you will have huge opportunities to do repeated physical assessments of all body systems, consider labs (chemistries, hematology, blood gases), manage meds and ivs, manage surgical drains and dressings, ventilators, weaning and extubation, vital signs that are changing rapidly, and ask questions of some of the most willing teachers in the hospital-- pacu nurses, respiratory therapists, and anesthesiologists. you won't believe how much you get out of it.

trust me, your faculty will make allowances for the care planning aspect of it-- they've already decided to place a student there and they've already considered that, so ask what they decided.

congratulations! have a ball!

[NCRNMDM, ASN, RN]

You're so lucky! I spent two semesters on a surgical floor, and I just finished a semester of mental health. I'm approaching fourth semester, and will be doing an OB/neonatal nursery clinical, and another clinical on a surgical floor. I got to do a one day out-rotation in the PACU, and I loved it.

Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot on the surgical floor (my floor also did medical overflow and ICU step-down), but I'm tired of it. I wish I could do one clinical where I actually got to do procedures. Over the course of three semesters, I've started two IVs. I've never put in an NG or a Foley, and I've never taken an NG out. I've done tons of dressing changes, and I've emptied all kinds of drains, but my clinicals have been severely lacking in the way of nursing skills.

Be glad that you are in PACU where you will have the chance to practice your skills and learn in a fast-paced environment. It's a really wonderful place to work, in my opinion.

[ChrisMarie09]

I know someone who precepted his last semester at an outpatient surgery center in the PACU and loved it. He ended up securing a job there before graduation. I would love to get a PACU rotation at some point but I doubt that will happen.

[sKris]

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate your insight. I knew I was missing something and just needed a little perspective from 'those who have gone before'. I am so excited I can hardly wait. It's hard to imagine that my first day of school is August 27th and on September 4th I will be in clinical in the PACU!! We really hit the ground running and I know there is going to be so much to learn. This is going to be the craziest year of my life. I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that while I'm spending this July trying to gather information, supplies, and figure out my schedule, that next year at this time I will be weeks away from graduation.