First day of REAL clinicals

[LizzieRickard]

So in a few days I will take my first quarter final. The next day I have my first day of real clincals. WITH REAL LIVING PEOPLE! We have had our clinicals in the lab for the past few weeks and Thursday I will be going to a convalescent care center to tour and interact with real people. Things are suddenly becoming very real.

How did you deal with going to a clinical site for the first time? I work overnights and I work the night before I go so I wont get to sleep before I go in. I am going to be stressing all night over it. Any help on how to relax? How did your first real on-site clinical go?

[negatron]

Oh boy. I was dreading seeing my first patient ever. We had to simply introduce ourselves, take our vital signs, and try to gather a health history if possible. It actually wasn't bad. I keep thinking back to that day and questioning why was i so nervous when there are a million things harder, more complex than taking vitals. Lol..

You may be given objectives. During your clinicals, have those objectives in mind at all times. Think of this as a job, not a social event. Get what you need and move on. For some reason, thinking this way really helped me the first clinical day.

Lastly, remember to apply

everything you've been learning, most importantly therapeutic communication, patient privacy, and their legal rights. Best of luck :)

[JessyHsn]

In my school they start you out with real people from day 1. It's scary at first but it's really not that bad. A lot of people say that the patients absolutely love student nurses because they have more time to be with the patients. Just take it easy it shouldn't be as bad as you think. Good luck :)

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

it is a hazard to yourself and your patients to work that many hours without sleep. You are just going thru the motions, not really as engaged as you think.

The one thing you should learn is that each patient is different. Good luck