Does a nursing student ask for a clinical where you're in the ICU, surgery, ER or whatever

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 24, 2017

Most schools, to my knowledge, include a critical care component. However, most of the specialty areas just don't get covered, because there are just too many of them. Even with those specialties that do see a fair amount of clinical time, you will not learn how to be a "real" nurse until you are on the floor during orientation.

Some schools do offer a senior capstone/practicum/other title course, where students may have the opportunity to inform the school of what areas interest them. However, there is no guarantee because of the need for preceptors (working nurses who would work one on one with the student) and limits on how many students could realistically be placed in those specialties.

CardiacDork, MSN, RN · Jul 25, 2017

Nursing schools offer a oriention is every area of nursing

Neonates/Acute & Critical

Pediatrics/ Acute & Critical

Obstetrics

Geriatrics

Adult Acute Care

Adult Critical

However, what do you expect to gain from your critical care rotation? It won't teach you how to be a critical care nurse. Much less any valuable aplicable knowledge as a ACNP.

Miss.LeoRN · Jul 25, 2017

Assuming you are in the US, Nursing Students get a "rounded" education that pretty much touches on a little bit of everything. After you graduate, you can do more schooling to earn critical care certification and etc..

When it comes to clinical experience, all schools do it differently. I went to an ADN program; our first semester we were at a long term care facility, and an adult day care facility. Second semester we were on the hospital floor (med/surg), and did a short 2 week rotation in a Peds unit. We also had one day that we spent with a school nurse at one of the local-ish schools. Third semester we were on the hospital floor (med/surg), and did a one day rotation with a nurse manager at a facility of choice. We also did a single home health rotation. Fourth semester was the preceptor program. One person from each clinical group was nominated for the program, which pretty much allowed them to pick a specialty to spend the entire clinical semester experiencing. Everyone else spent the semester on a med/surg unit (we rotated med/surg floors, so the group who had cardiac the year previous, this year had surgical acute, etc). Each week a couple of us would rotate to a specialty; SSD, ICU, ER, and/or Outpatient Care for a day. We did not have an OB rotation. The specialty rotations were really great, I just wish we had gotten longer rotations rather than just a day. There were other programs for other colleges that actually spent several weeks in a specialty clinical, so your program may be different.

MyAimIsTrue, BSN · Jul 25, 2017

Yes, as others have said, you will likely touch on critical care as part of your basic nursing clinical education. At our school, you can request that your preceptorship be in critical care, but they have said they very rarely place a student there. You'd have to be at the top of your game and they'd have to find a nurse willing to precept you. Everyone gets to state their choice, but it's not guaranteed.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Jul 25, 2017

We had a semester of critical care nursing (clinicals in ICU). We also had an individual one day rotations, during critical care clinicals, to observe in OR and ER. As Rose Queen has stated, we also had a Senior Capstone preceptorship. We had to choose our top 3 hospitals and top 3 specialties. Most of my cohort chose Adult ICU, ER, Psych, Med/Surg. I got my first choice Hospital/ Specialty. I only had a 1/2 clinical in a Level II NICU in L/D clinical, so I chose the Level IV NICU for my Capstone. It helped me get my first job as a new grad.