Clumsy in Clinical

[trudyshaff]

So I'm doing fine with the academics side of nursing school. I've always been a good student. But clinic - ugh. I'm all thumbs and my clinic instructor is the wicked witch of the west. She seems to really love making students cry!

I like feeling prepared - like having everything with me that I need when I enter the room. I HATE fumbling through my pockets for something or leaving the room to get the one thing I forgot to bring in while my instructor stands there glaring at me.

What have you seen out there to help someone like me to be more prepared?

[ThatBigGuy]

If you are going to perform a skill on a patient, take a few minutes to gather your thoughts and supplies. Have your instructor review your game plan and supplies before you enter the patient's room. Then go in there and knock the skill out with efficiency and confidence.

Your instructor is there to instruct. If you insist on barging into the patient's room without reviewing the plan with your instructor, and then you realize you forgot a supply, of course your instructor is going to be constructively critical (or just critical if you continue to make the same mistakes and not learn from them).

I found that if you take the extra few minutes to create a game plan by yourself, then ask the instructor to critique it before performing the skill, you will find the instructors are more likely to give you positive help.

[mariebailey, MSN, RN]

I did awful with the hands-on initially, even on video demonstrations. I managed to tear my sterile gloves when demonstrating how to don them. I think, for me, it was my learning style & hand-eye coordination that held me back. THANK HEAVEN for the good ol' written exam though. These task-oriented skills are skills that can be tweaked & fine-tuned though; I bet it will come with time. I agree that mentally preparing prior to entering the room will help. What are the supplies? What are the steps? Good luck!

[smf0903]

I agree that it does come with time. It's like anything else, the more you do it the better you get For dressing changes, I go into the room and look at the site to figure out what I need. If I go in with some 4x4s, some tape, some saline flushes without having first looked at the area I will be dealing with, I may miss that the pt needs a new gown and fitted sheet because they bled through their bandage (just a generic example). The first time I did an IV insert or hung a IVPB, I talked through the steps in the med room. I felt a little more comfortable going into the room after my "refresher". Really, stopping for a minute or two and talking yourself through something before you go into the room helps a LOT. Even as mariebailey said about everything not going perfectly (i.e. her sterile gloves tearing) can be a positive. While you don't want to make mistake after mistake while teaching, mistakes are ok sometimes because your PATIENT will make mistakes at home with what you've taught them. That's just a teachable moment while you're teaching LOL

Good luck! :)

[Everline]

I had my "little green book" where I had written all the supplies needed for several common skills and procedures. I also noted where said supplies could be found in the hospital where I was currently doing clinicals. That meant a diagram of the shelves, closets and tables and a star or arrow where each item was located. This may seem overboard, but last semester my clinical instructor let us know at the beginning that we better know what supplies we needed and where to get them and how to use them because she wasn't helping us do things we should have learned already. She threatened to send us home or not allow us to do skills if we weren't properly prepared in this way.

I also watched a lot of youtube videos on how to do common skills. Of course, I'd learned them in the lab, but I had to keep refreshing my memory because it's not like we do all these skills every day. I just had to make sure that the instructions in the vids were right. I got recommendations from my teachers for that. I also watched other people perform skills whenever I could and relied on my classmates for help when I needed to learn something or needed a quick rundown right before going in to do a skill. We all had our strengths and we helped each other.

Lastly, I had to remind myself over and over to take a deep breath and take it step by step. That was hard when I had an instructor who preached time management and always told us to hurry it up. However, thinking through things ahead of time and not letting myself be disturbed or rushed went a long way. I found that, even though that particular instructor snapped her fingers at me to hurry it up, I was better off going at a rate comfortable for me. I was fine with her post-conference rants about us being slow but was not fine with making a mistake that could have been avoided if I just took a bit more time. Speed comes with experience. I reminded myself that I am a student there to learn.

Speaking of that, positive self-talk helped me get through. I've had hard _____ instructors that seemed to love making students sweat and cry. However, in the end I learned a lot and they became my allies. I had to talk to myself positively to get through those tough days and be gentle on myself because no one else would. That helped me ease my shaky hands and clumsiness. But it takes time.

[la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN]

I second the book with each skill supply set listed. Take note of what skills you will be allowed to perform for that quarter and write down little notes on procedures and a list of what you need to have on hand. You'll be remembering these things without help before you know it. Also, make sure you're taking note of the things you're forgetting and review this after each clinical. It helps immensely with the learning process and you'll find yourself making fewer and fewer mistakes. Also, take your time. The pts aren't going anywhere and you're there to learn. Finally, use your skills lab and practice whatever you're uncomfortable with. It'll make all the difference.