clinicals

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2015

Whoops! Sorry that's what we were told! Good to know.

If you could please use your quote feature, we'd have a better idea about what you mean. Just look for the Quote button at the bottom of the post to which you refer. You can edit it prn. Thanks.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2015

I will take that question at face value, giving you a minute to calm down and collect yourself. Stamping out does not have the effect you seek.
1) Getting an answer you didn't like to a question you might have been asking rhetorically (for venting /effect?) doesn't meet criteria for being "trampled to the ground."
2) Nor does it meet criteria for "being attacked."
3) If by "giving up and saying 'the heck with it' " you mean you don't know how else to respond to how this has unfolded, I do have some suggestions.
The way you learn to be an effective advocate for others is not necessarily by drama, of which you clearly exhibit a generous share. :) It is by calm reflection.
Learn when you need to vent, and when you really need an actual answer. This thread is turning out to be a vent, I think. Say so, so your listeners don't misunderstand you, and you won't get answers you don't feel you need, on further reflection. Reflect first. Ask yourself, "What's important here?" The answer may not be what you expected.
Learn to identify within yourself when you are about to get ALL WOUND UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and take a moment. This may be the origin of your plaint about taking lunch elsewhere, later clarified to ask for moments of quiet alone. Even taking the time to count to five silently will serve you in good stead. With practice, you will become more effective at it, which will be helpful to you.
Consider doing a little look into meditation to learn how to control yourself better, to make you more effective. This is a skill. You can't just decide to do it. It will require practice. It will pay off.
All considered, you will master many techniques of advocacy both while you are in your program and as you mature as a nurse. And you will start by mastering yourself.
Edit: And as I have just gone back to the beginning and see that the OP is in her fifties, not an immature kid, this could mean it's a lifelong behavior. OP, this could be more difficult for you to overcome. How much do you want to do it? It could be a hard row, as they say around the ocean here.

I was about to respond that the OP sounds really immature. By her posts, I thought for sure she was 20 years old but immature even for that age.

She is in her 50s? Wow, just...wow.

OP has complained that she is bored out of her gourd during clinicals and can't do anything without the instructor at her elbow, then goes on to make a huge deal out of the fact that she NEEDS a break, some time to decompress. How in dog's name is she going to deal with the HUGE amount of stress which comes with being a RN with the current patient load nurses are expected to care for?

OP, there is NO escaping the floor to decompress or get a moment. You MIGHT get your lunch, but you will be expected to be close at hand to answer questions that might come up or respond to an emergency.

You have been extremely disingenuous in your later posts. You did not JUST ask a question about lunch. You waded into other issues, as you well know.

You've said you are reconsidering nursing. I think that's wise. You don't sound like a person who wants anyone telling you what to do. Nursing does not have the kind of autonomy you seem to desire. You already sound like a total grump, so I can't imagine what you will be like when the load is magnified times ten in the real world of nursing. Based on your defensiveness and irritability, I'm not sure nursing would be good for your soul.

ixchel · Jul 14, 2015

I know this is a really tiny and insignificant thing to feel annoyed by, but OP, you are a student. The patient is the ultimate responsibility of the nurse, not you. You can't be accused of abandonment.

Undone · Jul 14, 2015

Sounds to me like you need a cigarette break.

NICUmiiki, DNP, NP · Jul 14, 2015

My program was huge (if you included 1st years and 2nd years, it was probably about 500 students that needed to be placed each rotation) and we had students in almost every teaching hospital around the city each rotation.

My program is about the same size. My school is hospital based (legacy diploma programed turned ASN turned BSN) and we do ALL of our clinical at that hospital (A pretty large hospital). Around lunch time, the cafeteria turned into a sea of blue and white.

I also couldn't imagine leaving for lunch seeing as the walk to your car took 10 minutes by itself... You were almost guaranteed to be late and get in trouble.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 14, 2015

Did anyone else notice that the OP lists their age as 52? This really isn't the attitude that I'd expect out of someone who should have a good bit of life experience.

OP, take a deep breath. This is not the hill to die on. In nursing school, we followed one of two lunch models: we paired up with another nursing student who relieved us for lunch and then we relieved them, or we took lunch as a clinical group and sat in the hospital cafeteria. We also weren't permitted to leave the facility.

Even now, I could try to leave the facility, but I can guarantee you that I wouldn't feel like I'd had enough time to eat- days I run to the cafeteria and stand in line I don't even feel like I've had enough time. But the thing is, I need to be available even when on lunch- if I get called back into an OR, I can put down that I had no lunch and be paid for that half hour. A perfect example of this: I was relieved for lunch while doing the prep work to start open heart surgery (anesthesia line insertion, positioning, prepping, etc.). About 10 minutes in, I got paged overhead to return to the OR stat. A non-cardiac surgeon had been working on a sternal wound and perforated the heart. Because heart staff are separate at my facility, that meant those of us at lunch literally left our food on the table and went running through the OR halls to take care of this actively trying to die patient.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 14, 2015

When you are a nursing student you are functioning under your clinical instructor's RN/NP license.

This is a common misperception. Students do not function under the instructor's license. The only way an instructor's license can be affected is if her or she knowing assigns a student patients/tasks/scope of practice the student is not capable of. This is why many schools incorporate Liability Insurance fees into the tuition or flat out require them separately.

FurBabyMom, MSN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

We went off unit to the cafeteria as a group for every clinical I was in, except my community clinical and my preceptorship. My nursing class got along really well. We lived through some horrible things together (death of a classmate, etc). We didn't spend lunch time talking about clinical stuff for the most part - sometimes we did, but most of the time we talked about non-school stuff.

I have to agree with the others - you are there with/on behalf of school. It's not truly your time. It could be a liability or "image" issue. I don't know what else to say but try to make the best of it?

My community health placement was a preceptorship style placement. I was 1:1 with a school nurse. We took lunch whenever it was convenient between what we needed to do and the as needed things (kids who got hurt, were sick, etc). I always went with my preceptor, but I found her story in nursing to be fascinating. :)

During my preceptorship / clinical capstone (whatever you want to call it), I was 1:1 with my preceptor. We went to lunch when we could based on patient flow and needs of the unit. I generally went with my preceptor but if I wanted some time to myself she would have had no issue. I loved working with this preceptor and her coworkers. I would have loved to work there as a first job - but I needed a non-procedure area first, and they only had a PRN position available (that they did offer me).

I enjoy when I get to spend lunch with coworkers now. I'm usually in such a hurry that I don't get to "enjoy" lunch. Recently, I was precepting someone who chose to "hang out" with me during lunch too - it was really cool! People's stories are so different and similar all at once. Yesterday, I got to have lunch with two of my coworkers (so rare, but so much fun). I'd get to spend more time with coworkers if I went in our break room more often - but people are pretty sour about some stuff at work right now so I avoid the collective negativity.

FurBabyMom, MSN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

i say this all the time to students: Never assume that there's only one learning objective in any assignment, setting, or experience. And not all of them are explicitly stated in the syllabus. Always keep your eyes open to those other opportunities for learning. In this case, there's the opportunity for the OP to learn a lot about the team gestalt and about her own coping skills (and how to develop those).

Oh my gosh! This is SO true! Learning this will help you immensely OP! There is some learning opportunity in every situation. It's a privilege.

kbwilliams95 · Jul 15, 2015

In my clinicals, we always got out before lunch time and therefore could eat anywhere once we left the hospital, but other nurses just stayed there to eat

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

We could bip down to the cafeteria, either to purchase or eat what we brought for lunch. We didn't have to stay by our instructors side like baby ducks for our meals, but we were not allowed to leave the building----which always ticked off my smoking classmates!

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Jul 15, 2015

My DH is a police officer. There are many nights that he doesn't get a real meal break (including tonight, which is a shame because the pork chops were yummy) and grabs a bag of chips and a soda at a 7-11. My BFF is a teacher and spends many lunch periods helping students, working on an IEP, doing a meeting of sorts with a fellow teacher, etc---she stuffs a half sandwich in her mouth somewhere in the middle of all of that.

Teachers, attorney's, police officers, office workers, everyone who has a job. How many physicians do you know that are made to stay in-hospital for meals?