Clinicals

Hello Lacy,

I did freak out at clinical and had a panic attack and had to go home at 10:30am in the morning. I go blank and the time from being nervous and I really don't know well to deal with it. I get straight A's in class but in clinical I am very bad. You are only allowed to get 10 points per each level or you are kicked out of the program. I am in the 2nd Level of my program and have 7 points/ out of 10 and I have to go to July 1014. My Instructor OUT RIGHT told me I am not going to make it. I have been crying ever since. I have 3 loans out for the program and I don't know how I am going to pay it back on my CNA salary.

Thank you for Listening,

Diane

Just take a deep breath and relax hun clinicals arent hard. You could always role play with family and friends and pretend that they are your pts and youre their nurse and practice your vital signs on them. Good Luck

Just remember, all the other students with you are just as nervous. In my experience, my clinical classmates and I have worked together in ways to get through it all. Clinicals bring you much closer to other students than lectures do. And have fun! Clincials are where you see the cool stuff!

You aren't expected to know how to do everything, but what you have already checked off on in lab, you may want to review, if you have videos. Just so you don't blank out. It's a lot to remember but with practice you will be fine. I got to DC a foley but haven't put one in yet. Two people in my group of nine in clinical got to do foleys the first semester.

I too stArt clinically in Jan and wondering what to expect and how to prepare! Any tips? Thx!

I wouldn't stress too much about it.. the first day will be just getting to know the unit you'll be on and getting familiar with the patient's chart. Just be professional and always ask questions no matter how stupid you may think it is. After the first couple days our teacher assigned us 1 patient each that morning, we would introduce ourselves to the nurse, try to get report, if not get as much info I could out of the chart, next I would take the vital sign machine into the room introduce myself to the patient as their student nurse and then explain everything you would be doing with the vitals first and then head to toe assessment. Our teacher would always want us to give her report back after getting it from the nurse so if they leave any important details out ask them because your teacher will be. As for skills, they were rare to come by only a select few got to foleys, IVs, wound care, etc. I didn't start doing a lot of them until I started working.

I started my clinical rotation last month at an LTC and i was so nervous the whole week prior, but once i got there and got through it, it was an awesome experience. The facility is great and I love my clinical instructor, and it was not as bad as i thought it would be.