clinicals

canigraduate · Jul 13, 2015

Who's attacking the OP? Where? I can't find anything.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jul 13, 2015

Yep! asked a question of nursing students about how their schools handled lunch breaks. Got "trampled on" by every nurse that read it. I've been accused of abandonment, laziness, clinical inappropriateness, attitude and every other thing under the sun. It was about LUNCH! It doesn't say much for the nursing profession that they are so willing to attack someone for a simple question. Anyway, I have a nursing report to write and a test to study for so I'm out! Thanks so much for all the helpful "advice".

No one forced you to become a nurse. You were given the clinical rules before clinicals started, if you didn't agree with them you didn't have to go or continue with nursing school.

As far as attacking, or as you call it "trampling" you, you came to a public forum. Just because you didn't get the advice you wanted & no one agreed with you, doesn't mean people attacked you. Also, you got great advice from very educated & experienced nurses. I would take their advice, if not it would be foolish of you.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2015

You're right when attacked I do tend to defend myself. So very sorry that disappoints everyone. Here's my question, if I'm supposed to advocate for my patients and stand up for what's right, how will I do that when every time I ask a question I get trampled to the ground. After a while, you just give up and say the heck with it and don't advocate for yourself or anyone else!

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.

Purple_roses · Jul 13, 2015

Y'all amaze me! You spend so much time on AN griping about how badly nurses get treated, yet you're willing to accept conditions that no other professional in the hospital ( or in any other profession, for that matter) accepts.

OP, it is at this exact point that things started to go downhill.

littlepeopleRNICU · Jul 13, 2015

Nobody is trampling on you. Go back and read your thread again. I stopped counting after post 8, but the first 8 responses to you consisted of NOTHING but nurses saying "when I was in nursing school, it was like this". Which is exactly what you asked, is it not?- "is it common for clinical sites to require you to have lunch on site?"(not quoted verbatim), and you got answers to that.

Nobody started to disagree with you until you took offense in others saying they had the same experiences as you have and chalked it up to playing the game as it goes. Yes, you are an adult, but what entitlement comes with being a student? In any regards? None, and none should. I have no idea of your capabilities as a nurse, and I won't pretend as such. But I will say, if the responses in your post offend you THAT much, you need to gain some thicker skin before you graduate. This is cake compared to what you will potentially get from a pissed off doctor, patient, family, other medical staff. God forbid you actually do make an error.

noelly10 · Jul 13, 2015

Sadly we don't get a preceptorship until 2 months before we graduate. We aren't allowed into any computer system and God Forbid we go anywhere near the Pyxis. We can't pull meds, chart, administer any meds without our instructor being in the same room (we get to administer meds only every 2 weeks as our instructor says she can't handle us all passing meds) and handing us the meds, do dressings, wraps, IV care of any kind etc.... This is our 2nd semester, 3rd clinical rotation. I know learning to be a nurse takes time and I want to make sure that when I do something I am doing it the right way so that I don't harm anyone, however at this point I'm basically being trained as a PA. How can I learn to do things if no one ever gives me the opportunity or teaches me how? I would love to just be able to work with the nurses on the floor, they're wonderful!

Here's a good example, I had a patient that had not urinated since 9:00 p.m. the night before. After repeatedly asking and trying to coax her to at least try, I went to my instructor (around 10:00 a.m.), at around 1:00 p.m. I started getting really concerned and the patient started getting really annoyed with me for asking if she had to go or would just try lol. One of the problems she was admitted for was edema. I finally went to her RN and she said lets do a bladder scan. I had to get permission! I could not find the instructor for about 1/2 an hour and by the time I did we were leaving the floor and she told me no because she hadn't signed me off on it. It was a bladder scan! How much harm could I have done with a noninvasive procedure and a licensed RN right there? Sorry didn't mean to rant. Just very frustrated.

I don't know if anyone has said this yet because I haven't read all the comments. So excuse me if I'm repeating...

1) why should you be able to give meds alone if you are a STUDENT. They don't trust you yet! Not only is this only your second semester, but you haven't even taken NCLEX to prove yourself. They are protecting the general public. I wouldn't want some student coming into my room giving me meds without someone next to them that knows what they are doing.

2) I never got a preceptorship. Not everyone has the opportunity to have that, so be happy you at least get two months with a preceptor.

3) why should you be allowed in the pyxis? Again, you are a student. You are merely a visitor.

4) one time I didn't give meds for an entire month. Don't worry, you get to do it more when you are an RN.

5) stop complaining. You are in a nursing program! Hundreds of people that didn't get in would kill for your spot.

PS: at least you get a lunch. Sometimes I don't even get that, or it has to be cut super short.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jul 13, 2015

It's hard for nursing schools to secure clinical sites and it's also very easy for schools to lose access to sites based on student behavior. No clinical site=no nursing school. Of course the instructors are going to keep a close eye on you.

This.

When someone accepts a place in a nursing program, it is expected that one understands that they represent the school that they are enrolled in; it is also expected that it is understood that they are a guest in the facilities that they are in.

I was told in orientation that we were to be on clinical grounds at all times to ensure clinical hours mandated by the state were completed; I have also had the pleasure of having accreditation as well as school representatives visit during clinicals to ensure that standards were upheld.

As far as your examples of your clinical experiences go, it's pretty standard, meaning, I have NEVER had Pyxis access as a PN or BSN student-my instructors only had access-it really isn't anything to look forward to as a student, and it's not that big of a deal-you can wait for that as a nurse, I assure you.

As far as getting permission to do things; that is dependent on the nursing instructor; as far as my experiences, my instructors have (I see most of them where I work) a good working relationship with the facilities that I did clinicals in; not every instructor has that privilege and they are under the scope as well; so keeping a close eye on adult student-however the STUDENT part is important-is valid.

I'm not going to rehash some of the responses here, because there pretty much spot on-the things you vent about are so minor-you will have to decompress after clinicals in this rotation, you may have a different experience in another rotation, so WOOSAH a bit-the more you learn, you will MISS that one pt load, especially when you get to your preceptorship-and even then it will pale in comparison to what you will encounter as a nurse-so, to be clear, enjoy your clinical rotations, no matter how uneventful they will be.

jojo489 · Jul 13, 2015

Growth or reflection? I asked a question about lunch! There is nothing to reflect upon. I'm truly sorry that you don't think it's ok to be able to take a few minutes to sit by myself and decompress during lunch. Perhaps if more people did this during the day, less mistakes would be made. I, for one, don't think I am superwoman and realize my limits and when I need to step back and take a minute. Never mind! I'm over it. This is one of the reasons I'm seriously reconsidering my choice of nursing. Apparently to be a nurse you must be better than everyone else and have an attitude with those trying to learn. Afraid that's not me. Sad really!

When you act like a child, you will get treated like one. Please, stop with the all caps and lots of exclamation points...you're reading what people are writing but you're not taking it in. You're getting entirely too defensive.

1. You will not learn everything you will ever need to know in clinicals. You will not get to see or do every procedure. Don't worry so much about spending the day doing patient care...I understand where you're coming from, but the reality is you will graduate nursing school thinking you're prepared and reality will hip check you into a wall when you start your first job because you will feel incredibly unprepared.

2. Your problem is about leaving for lunch. All facilities I've worked for have requested that we stay on premise for our lunch break, but in their P&P it stated we had to hand our cart keys to someone and report off to them. Well, in order to do that you need to find someone to be willing to possibly take your assignment for the remainder of the shift. Imagine that you took someone's people, and they got in a horrific car accident or hit by a car in the parking lot. You would hope that person was ok, and you would have twice your normal amount of patients until it was all figured out.

-I am not saying you can't leave the floor. I'm not saying not to go get some fresh air. Just food for thought.

3. Clinical instructors' butts are on the line, too. Mine HAD TO BE peering over our shoulder when we gave meds or did a procedure for the first time. If you can't get your instructor in with you when you want to do something, why not watch the nurse or whoever is going to do it so you get an idea? We did that many times. I remember we had a skills checklist to check off during clinicals...you can't always check all those things off because sometimes you get a crappy unit and not much going on. It happens.

In closing, please go back and truly look at the advice these people are giving you. With the attitude and defensiveness you exhibited here, I don't see you fairing well with crusty old bats at work or constructive criticism. You will need to learn how to accept when someone is correcting you....it's not always nice. And it's not always what you want to hear. But you need to learn to take it with a grain of salt and move on...and maybe even learn something.

And...don't be so mad at us. It's the interwebs...if you don't like what we're saying....simply stop reading it.

I sincerely do wish you the best of luck though, and hope that your clinical rotations get a little better.

noelly10 · Jul 13, 2015

Just noticed something, OP. Your interest is mental health. I do hope you realize that you need some tough skin, and you are not off to a good start. Before you post anything further, if you do plan on doing so, please read each comment and try to take down that defensive wall you put up. It's advice mixed with constrictive criticism. That's what your whole career is going to be, advice with a lot of constrictive criticism (and sometimes just the criticism).

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jul 13, 2015

Looking back a lot of the posts by the OP & she seemed to make a lot of excuses. I can't do this, I can't do that because of x/y/z. So many people gave you great advice. Don't make excuses, take action.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jul 13, 2015

We were not allowed to leave either. When I was at the LTC facility, I would go to Subway before we had to be there so I always had a good lunch with me. I really hate those microwavable meals, they have tons of sodium in them. Last semester at the hospital we had to eat in the cafeteria as a group. We could bring our lunch or buy the cafeteria food. The cafeteria wasn't bad so I usually bought there. We only ever got 30 minutes for lunch so you really couldn't leave if you wanted to. It honestly was not a big deal to me.

LaneyB · Jul 13, 2015

If I recall correctly - in the hospital clinical rotations we sat together as a group in the cafeteria and ate lunch. I think when we ate in the cafeteria with instructors they counted it toward the overall clinical time. On the community rotations we were on our own. We would often all go to the same fast food place and eat as a group without the instructors.

I do find it a bit odd though if the instructor doesn't give you ten or fifteen minutes at the end of lunch break to use the restroom or get a little fresh air. Especially since you said lunch is an hour. Maybe you could ask the instructor if that would be possible.