Day Clinicals Vs. Night Clinicals??

Kaley1 · Apr 23, 2014

Depends on what you are looking for, I think daytime gives a better overall learning experience because you get to see more action and procedures. There were less family members as well. Evenings provided a much better chance to be with patients and get used to the nurse patient/family relationship, but we had to fight to get IV, cath, etc. experience because there were fewer opportunities. If I had to do it all over, I would do a mixture of the two. It was a little embarrassing when I got to my preceptorship and was fumbling around wasting time with bed baths because we never had to give them in the evenings. If you like to just jump into things, I would start with days. If you are someone that likes to ease into things, I would start with evenings. I would definitely do both if you can though. The more experience the better.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Apr 24, 2014

If you get the choice I would do both. You get to see the difference in patient care/doctors/staffing/etc on the shifts, and how your body handles the different shifts.

RunBabyRN · Apr 25, 2014

One nice thing with days is that you learn not only about patient care, but hospital politics, talking to doctors and interdisciplinary personnel, families, managers, etc. You may also have more resources available. I liked getting to talk to social workers, physical therapists, nutritionists, etc. You can learn a lot from them and about how what nurses do impacts their work and vice versa. The nice thing with nights is that there are few managers, few doctors and fewer family members to "deal with."

I agree that if you can, try both, but this probably isn't reality- I know school tend to make you stick with one choice. It's up to you.

Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN · Apr 25, 2014

I worked as a tech before and through nursing school, because of that I chose to go into the evening clinical as I already knew how to do bed changes, bathing, feeding, etc. In the evening I get to talk to my patient and their family and do some teaching, depending on where you are you might have a lot of IV meds or none; last semester I think I gave eye drops and heparin sub q. This semester I have given IV abx everyday, insulin almost everyday, eye drops, vaccines, etc. It's all about the facility!

JBMmom, MSN, NP · Apr 25, 2014

I had no choice but to go with evening clinicals, and since that's the only shift I work, it was a perfect match. I've worked day shift twice and it's crazy to me. I knew the flow of evenings going in and that was helpful to me. However, if I had an open schedule I probably would have done both to get a better picture of "the real world".

AmyRN303, BSN, RN · Apr 25, 2014

If you can, so both. I did days for all but one rotation and was glad to experience an evening rotation. They are totally different in some ways, and it is beneficial to experience both, in my opinion. I actually prefer evenings, come to find out! Congratulations on your acceptance!