Clinicals question??

Thepreacherswife · Apr 24, 2007

Well here in California at my college we have to wear all white scrubs. Our instructor goes with us to clinical but we are partnered up to one CNA and go on her rounds with her. Our instructor would come around and check on us and we could call her into the room when we were going to be doing something like a bed bath or shaving, so she could sign us off on it.The patients for the most part don't care when you are there. I mean of course you let them know you are a stundent but I haven't ever had one say anything to me about it. AND 2 weeks for the class? That is crazy!! Haha ours was one semester! I will be done in about 3 weeks!!!

couldntbhappier · Apr 27, 2007

Jenso79 - I. Loved. Clinicals. I'm from Nebraska & my CNA classes met every day M-F for 3 weeks. The first Friday, we assisted with dining, the second Friday, we had a Spring Luncheon for the Residents, the following Tuesday, we assisted with dining, & on Wednesday & Thursday, we assisted with dining & spent all day in clinicals. We were paired up, met our resident, & were responsible for toileting, taking vitals, assisting with dining, oral care, & pericare. We did it all in the morning, again in the afternoon, in the morning again & then yesterday afternoon, we played BINGO with the Residents. Most of us had VERY GOOD experiences. We had to have an instructor with us for pericare & transfering our Residents & there were always the CNA's assigned to a particular team of Residents around, to answer any immediate questions we had. We had 3 instructors & each pair of students were assigned to one of the instructors. We could wear nice clothes (khakis & a polo), but we all wore scrubs & we could wear any color we'd like - as long as we WEREN'T wearing jeans & we WERE wearing comfortable shoes. We also had to have our hair tied back if it was long enough. I have to admit - the Residents LOVED us & the feeling was returned - they were wonderful. We told them we were student nurse assistants & they just thought it was so fantastic!

pagandeva2000, LPN · Apr 29, 2007

I will be starting CNA class this summer. Curious as what will happen in the clinicals...do you have to wear scrubs in class also? Who teaches you in the clincals...the instructor or the staff at the facility? Can you wear any scrubs or do they have mandated colors? What do the patients think of students?:uhoh21:
My class is only 2 weeks long so I am curious how they will fit all that in there. I have a job opening at an assisted living after I am done with school and I hope I am prepared.!!!

Two weeks long? That is an odd one to hear because mine was about 2 1/2 months including the clinicals. I guess each state has their own requirements. It is usually a clinical instructor that is seperate from the faculty at the school, but again, things are run differently in each facility. I didn't have to wear scrubs to class, just to clinical.

aerorunner80, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN · May 4, 2007

What you wear to clinicals depends on where you are learning. At my school we had to wear white pants and a white collared (sp?) shirt. It didn't matter if our pants were scrub pants or not but most of us wore scrubs because they're comfortable and easy to work in. Where I did my clinicals, some residents warmed up to us quickly and some finally warmed up to us on our last day. It just depends on the person. Clinicals was pretty fun. Use your resources while you still can and ask your instructor lots of questions. You'll do fine.

Anne36, LPN · May 4, 2007

HI, the Red Cross class is 3 weeks full time here in Michigan. I am getting kinda scared because of some of the posting about gross stuff. Do you all wear masks when working with toileting issues or cleaning up a mess? I do have 4 kids so Ive had my fair share of diaper changing and that sort of thing but I still really do have a weak stomach.

pagandeva2000, LPN · May 4, 2007

HI, the Red Cross class is 3 weeks full time here in Michigan. I am getting kinda scared because of some of the posting about gross stuff. Do you all wear masks when working with toileting issues or cleaning up a mess? I do have 4 kids so Ive had my fair share of diaper changing and that sort of thing but I still really do have a weak stomach.[/quote/]
It is not usually required or even allowed in most cases to wear masks unless there is a suspicion of splashing. It is usually not necessary, believe it or not, and also, it leaves an impression upon the patient that they are not worthy of being touched. The difference that astounded me in nursing school verses CNA school is that we were instructed in nsg. school that the only time we should wear gloves (except for obvious reasons) is to wash the genital area...otherwise, we were to do it barehanded.

aerorunner80, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN · May 5, 2007

It is not usually required or even allowed in most cases to wear masks unless there is a suspicion of splashing. It is usually not necessary, believe it or not, and also, it leaves an impression upon the patient that they are not worthy of being touched. The difference that astounded me in nursing school verses CNA school is that we were instructed in nsg. school that the only time we should wear gloves (except for obvious reasons) is to wash the genital area...otherwise, we were to do it barehanded.
In my CNA class they said the same thing, you don't need to wear gloves when bathing someone but I really beg to differ. About 90% of the time you are bathing someone, they are soiled (especially if it's a bedbath) and I'll be damned if I'm going in there without gloves. It just isn't going to happen.
The only time I've worn a mask so far is to be fitted for one. I would wear one if splashing were a risk or if they were on airborne precautions. Other than that, I've never seen anyone wear a mask.

arpeggiated · May 5, 2007

Heck, I don't even take vitals without gloves.

Tried once and got trach sputum smeared on me. Ick. So pretty much anytime I walk into a patient's room, I grab a pair of gloves. If I don't need them, I'll stick them in my pocket for an emergency later.

I work in a hospital though, so people here are sick. Better safe than sorry, as far as I'm concerned.

AmberL, BSN · May 13, 2007

I will be starting CNA class this summer. Curious as what will happen in the clinicals...do you have to wear scrubs in class also? Who teaches you in the clincals...the instructor or the staff at the facility? Can you wear any scrubs or do they have mandated colors? What do the patients think of students?:uhoh21:
My class is only 2 weeks long so I am curious how they will fit all that in there. I have a job opening at an assisted living after I am done with school and I hope I am prepared.!!!

When I was in clinicals we wore our navy blue scrubs we wore in class an we were mostly in pairs of students following an STNA on her rounds. Our teach would be arund to talk to us and see how we were doing.

beth66335, BSN, RN · May 22, 2007

HI, the Red Cross class is 3 weeks full time here in Michigan. I am getting kinda scared because of some of the posting about gross stuff. Do you all wear masks when working with toileting issues or cleaning up a mess? I do have 4 kids so Ive had my fair share of diaper changing and that sort of thing but I still really do have a weak stomach.

Hi! I don't know if you have started class or finished or what, but I am a CNA in nursing school and our first rule is don't wear a mask unless you know a patient is contagious, it alienates them from you as a caregiver and interferes with their healing process. There are gross things about being an aid, but people who need help with body functions depend so much on us.If you put yourself in their shoes your heart goes out to them and it won't bother you anymore.

RNMom2010 · May 22, 2007

We did our clinicals at an LTC facility. We had to wear all white scrubs with our little school emblem on them. We had an actual clinical instructor from the college who was super nice. We went around in pairs and checked off skills in the beginning, and after we were checked off on everything we were set to care for a resident completely on our own. It wasn't bad though there were people everywhere to ask questions, the nurses were great with us! It was a very good experience!