Clinicals- Critical care

[LovelyRN10, BSN, RN]

I am coming up on my third semester and I have critical care (some students get community first), but some people tell me its hard. Personally, I am excited and despite what SOME people tell me I feel I have sort of an advantage because I will go in with a good mindset vs going in dreading the class. When you all took critical care how did you feel ?

[LovingLife123]

Critical care is like anything else, fast paced and busy, except multiply it by 10.  I’d say 70% are one step away from death, the other 30% are waiting for a bed on the floor. 

Follow your nurse.  Offer to help with turns, baths, and back care.  Ask appropriate questions.  Do not act like you know it all and this will be easy.  Critical care is an art that takes time to master.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I wasn't quite sure what you meant by some students get community first, does that mean that this is your first clinical experience at all? I think that critical care is a great place to be, but I think it can be a little overwhelming as a clinical experience and for newer nurses. You will be exposed to many things, and it will be impossible to take all of them in at once. The nurses you will work with probably have been nurses for at least a few years and may not always have the time to go over the more basic aspects of care and critical care as a whole if you're assigned very sick patients.

Ask the CCTechs, if your unit has them, the respiratory therapists, etc questions if your nurse is very busy and there isn't something you can help with at that time.

[LovelyRN10, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, JBMmom said:

I wasn't quite sure what you meant by some students get community first, does that mean that this is your first clinical experience at all? I think that critical care is a great place to be, but I think it can be a little overwhelming as a clinical experience and for newer nurses. You will be exposed to many things, and it will be impossible to take all of them in at once. The nurses you will work with probably have been nurses for at least a few years and may not always have the time to go over the more basic aspects of care and critical care as a whole if you're assigned very sick patients.

Ask the CCTechs, if your unit has them, the respiratory therapists, etc questions if your nurse is very busy and there isn't something you can help with at that time.

The faculty split the junior nursing class and some of us have to take critical care (with clinicals) in the fall (senior year) while others will take what they call community care (childbearing and child rearing phase of family development etc.) then our last semester we swap out. It will actually be my second clinical experience, it should have been my third, but the first semester the hospitals wouldn't allow students due to Covid. Earlier this semester I did clinicals on a med-surg floor and now I am in an acute care hospital. It's like I went into a whole other world when I switched over to a new facility. The nurses are very knowledgeable and love to teach us. I enjoy it, even though I was afraid at first because I had never seen so many patients with tracheostomies and on ventilators. I do enjoy caring for them. I guess I was wondering if there would be a huge difference when going from acute care to critical care.