Did I learn enough in clinical?

[Brandolph95]

Hello everyone!

I am looking for a bit of advice. I am heading into my second semester of a BSN program. Last semester I had clinical at a community hospital and as I am getting closer to starting the second semester I am feeling like I did not learn enough last semester in clinical. I can count the things I've done on two hands which are give baths, feed patients, drain a catheter, check blood sugars, assist once with a wound dressing (all I did was wrap gauze), and stop an IV so one of my patients could go down for a CT.

We had clinical once a week and most of my patients did not require much, they were all elderly with things like renal failure, UTI, altered mental status etc. A few times I went to clinical and there was literally nothing for me to do. I asked the nurses and CNA's if I could help them in ANY way, asked my clinical instructor to assign me more than one patient, and offered my classmates assistance if they needed it (they are all in the same predicament as I). I even asked the IV nurse if I could follow her around, and she pretty much just let me observe her assess IV sites.

I'm not sure if what I have learned is adequate for a first semester nursing student or if I am seriously lacking in clinical experience.

I should also note that I am the type to learn by repetition and I regularly expressed that I wish clinical was more than one day per week so that I could really dive in and learn as much as I can!

My question is ... am I thinking too much into this and should just see what clinical has to offer next semester, or should I think about possibly getting a clinical assistant job to brush up on skills and learn more!

also - I did pass the class + clinical component with an A and received excellent feedback from my clinical instructor. I just can't help but feel that I did not learn/ do enough!

I really appreciate any advice!

[203bravo, MSN, APRN]

You are doing fine... 1st semester is usually about learning the fundamentals so assisting with ADLs, cath care, bed making, basic med passes, learning to feel comfortable with patient interactions and the such are normally the focus... it gets more hands on with more skills as the semesters progress.

Also know that there are going to many skills that you may never either witness nor perform in the clinical setting and you will learn during your first nursing job -- this is normal and does not mean that you missed anything during your education.

[Brandolph95]

Thank you!! This makes me feel much better about heading into next semester!!

[C0SM0]

Your description of your clinicals is exactly what I experienced all throughout nursing school. I just graduated this month and my clinicals were always the same. I had MAYBE 5% RN specific duties and 95% CNA tasks. I thought it would get better after the first semester fundamentals class, but it never did. My classmates and I always joked around and would say things like "I sure am going to make a great CNA after I graduate nursing school." I truly hope your experience is different and you get to actually gain some of those skills you'll need once you graduate.

[fkatherine93]

Hi ! I am starting the nursing classes this summer ill do health and promotion and then NU 226 and other 4th semester classes any pointers?! I'm soooo nervous !