duties of a student nurse??

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Hi everyone!

I am a semester 2 nursing student at a 4 yr university. For the rest of this sem,Im assigned to a med surg ,telemetry floor.For the past 2 weeks,i felt like I haven't been productive while in clinical because:

we were at a SNF (skilled nursing facility) for 4 weeks and now we are at Medsurg. We were oriented to the floor and it kinda sucked that we have to go through adjusting again,different nurses,CNA's etc! I liked working at the SNF but we had to move to tele, which is a very interesting place to be because out patients have heart conditions and there is more "action" on this unit:):lol2: The nurses and CNA's are really nice,which I like! However, our instructor is new to the hospital ,new to the university and to be honest we get no directions on how to do careplan(coz she doesnt really care about CP).Im kind of worried that I am not getting any feedback on how im doing with my careplan and careplans are graded! I dont know if im doing it right! Don't get me wrong,she is a really intelligent woman and I learned a lot from her! Most of the time,I find myself bored,nothing to do after I pass meds. I am thinking of having 2 patients for next week..:)

So my question is: STUDENT NURSES: WHAT DO YOU DO ACTUALLY WHEN YOU ARE ON THE FLOOR? WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE BORED? and for RN's, any suggestions to a Student nurse like me on the tele floor?

i want this semester to be meaningful and now that ive thought about it,I dont want to be wasting any of my precious time because this is our only chance to be at the med surg floor.I want to learn as much as I could while in nursing school. Lectures are lectures and i am one of those people that I have to apply my skills in real life (example,injecting a Sub) in order for me to really get it! I feel like there is not enough opportunities for me to practice real skills for nursing! I am on the list for volunteer and i am very excited about it! :nurse:

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho/Neuro, Hospice..

So my question is: STUDENT NURSES: WHAT DO YOU DO ACTUALLY WHEN YOU ARE ON THE FLOOR? WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE BORED?

I consider myself a "Floor Whore" I pimp myself out to any Nurse or Aide who needs help, I literally walk the floor asking/telling Nurses that I'm available and to let me know if I can help in any way. We have a Procedure Sheet that we log all of our procedures on, either performed or witnessed, at the end of my rotation my sheet was full while those of my peers had but a few logged. When asked by my peers how I got so many procedures I said "while you all were chatting in the lounge or doing homework, I was making myself available to the staff"

I was often thanked for my help at the end of my shift and it was suggested that I apply for a job there.

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hmm i guess im a floor whore too lol. My first clinical day i went in 20 minutes early introduced myelf to the nurse and told them that anything and everything they had for me to do i would do it (with my instructors permission) and if it was something i couldnt do myself to please let me watch them do it. It made the nurses day apparently cause she was calling my name every five minutes and i had a BLAST. loved it.

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please excuse my typos.... my "S" button doesnt work unless i beat on it.

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thanks for the input!

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

When I was a student nurse with nothing to do, I would go around asking the other students if they needed help with anything, then go around and ask the floor nurses/CNA's.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

Same as those above, I don't sit down during clinical. If my patients are all set, I answer lights, walk around the floor, restock supply carts and listen for nurses that are busy. I've had a chance to observe and assist with many more procedures than most of my classmates because I'm always listening and looking. After a few weeks on new units I've had nurses find me to help them, knowing that I'm always ready to jump in there. I've assisted with ostomies, wound vacs, chest tube dressings, Foleys and straight caths, just to name some of the things that other students have missed out on by sitting in the break room. I try to see it all while I can.

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thanks everyone! i just want to make it clear that I am not one of those people who take breaks every 15 mins. today,i didn't get to take my morning break because i was the last one to administer meds! but my pt refused,=( i was so ready to do it!administering meds via FT!me and my instructor asked him twice and he didn't want to( he has apahasia so can't really converse with us).

in our clinical we have 10 students and only one instructor,whenever we have to pass meds,it has to be with our instructor and i could tell you right now,medsurg telemetry is really busy.nurses were in line for their 10am meds at 9am..i observed that and pts have minimum of 6-15 meds,which is crazy! i guess it depends on the day and what kind of patients the unit admits.

anyways,i think the reason behind this rant is because not all of us are exposed to ER,OR, other interesting places! some clinical,they get rotated to ER,OR(THE REAL MEDSURG).we suggested to our instructor that she email the coordinator and i guess its not going to happen! lol we have 5 more meetings for the medsurg clinical and this semester is coming to an end! im excited about that:yeah: at the ends of the day I'm still thankful i get to see cool procedures and see hot it is really like to be a nurse.:rckn:

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I understand your frustration Nursingstudent 88. 10 students to 1 instructor is too much! I am an LPN in a bridge program in my 3rd semester. I have worked the med surg floor as a Team Leader and know what it is like to have 5 -6 patients at a time, but trying to take care of ONE patient with one instructor to SIX students is some days impossible. I end up having to have the staff nurse give the meds anyway because they can't be late or I don't feel they should have to wait 30 min for pain meds.

Today I seriously am reconsidering my career choice. It should not be this frustrating to become an RN!!

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hi ahunt224

yes it gets crazy on the floor when all the nurses are passing out meds! i can't blame some of them for not wanting to be followed.lol

i am about to volunteer in a few months and hoping i could practice skills when i do so..=)

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Flight.

we pretty much do the RN & Tech work while we are there which then equals a very worn out and tired nursing student. but you learn a lot :)

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you should never be bored as a student nurse on a floor - you should never have downtime. You should always have something to do - what about "Med, Fed, Bath & Bed"? Med admin, breakfast/lunch feeding support for pts that need assistance, giving a bath to a patient who hasnt had one for a few days because the nursing staff has been too busy (or taking 3 minutes to help them brush their teeth and rinse with mouthwash, make em feel human again), and changing sheets after the bath or at least re-positioning the pt in the bed to smooth out the sheets underneath them to help prevent pressure ulcers?

If your 2 patients dont need ANY of these things (which, admittedly, is highly unlikely as pts will rarely turn down a bath, and changing linens and performing pericare helps the RNs more than almost anything you can do), then ask if you can be assigned to a patient who needs more assistance, or help another student with their MFB&B.

Making yourself available to the nurses to help with other pts is a great thing, but your patients' needs come first. Only after all these needs are met should you be moving on to other tasks.

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