First semester BSN..is it normal not to do anything in CLINICAL?

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Okay, we didn't start our clinicals until 6 wks into school...so we just recently started clinicals (this week will be our 2nd clinical experience wk). We are on a general med-surg floor and we spend the entire time trying to fill out paperwrk for our careplans...

The nurses are unresponsive towards us, they just look at us in disgust and try to avoid making eye contact. I (and my peers) have tried to talk to the nurses and ask them if there is anything we can do and they say "no..". The first day we decided to follow the techs who were a lot nicer and at least let us take VITALS/FSBS.

I just feel really discouraged with the way our clinicals are going right now, I know they are suppose to be a learning experience but I am not learning anything SKILLS related...I can say that I have learned where I do not want to work in the future and that patient centered care is not on the top of the list on this floor :uhoh3: I spent my entire clinical hrs in the room with my pt. just talking to him last week and his R.N. never once stepped foot in his room, I even checked his chart and nothing had been done that day....

Somebody please tell me their first semester clinical was similar!?!? lol I need reassurance

Specializes in ED.

And Wondergirl, no...you don't do everything for the pt. your FIRST semester I am sure you might be more like "the nurse" towards further education but right now...goodness, i don't trust taking care of MYSELF let alone somebody else, there is just not enough knowledge yet.

No, not everything but you can do anything that is in your scope. In our first rotation we were not allowed to give meds but we did all vital signs, cares (baths, ambulation, feeding, wound care, etc etc) You should be doing the interventions that you come up with for your care plans. You also should be charting, even on your first rotation. You can do assessments and chart, and your instructor should be helping you with that as well as helping you write notes in the chart etc. As you begin to give meds, the nurse will expect you are doing all the nursing cares unles you ask her to do something for you. It is unfortunate that you are having this experience, for the most part all the RN's I have worked with have really appreicated having a student to help them. Your instructor should be very involved and making sure you are getting a good experience and learning what you should be learning.

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Yea, I think that's a big part of the issue...our clinical instructor is being pulled from both sides (floors) so she never stays too long in either just checks in to see if we are "doing okay"...hopefully we will get more guidance whenever the new instructor comes...thanks for all the input guys! Today I went up and met a really nice nurse but I doubt she will be my pt's nurse again tmr...:uhoh21:

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During our first clinicals, we were assigned a patient the day prior and expected to visit the hospital and study all the patient's information in addition to having all our care plans done before going to the hospital.

Perhaps that would help if the nurses felt you were more prepared???

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We go the day before also to get the basic info but we have to do an assessment before we start formulating our careplan...that's how we are taught to do..you assess then you form your diagnosis...I start thinking about possible diagnoses while I am gathering information on why the pt. is there and meds they are taking but not until I actually get to see them can I really get an idea of what I want to do...

and the day before when we go up we don't see the pt. we just check the chart and gather info...

it's getting alot better, you guys can ignore this post hahaha

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You have to be proactive and get in there with your patient and do the work. Give them their personal care and help them with meals. Anticipate their needs. Change their sheets.

Don't let the CNA's do it, do it yourself.

Nothing angers the nurses on the floor more than seeing a bunch of students nurses with charts in hand, doing their careplans and taking up needed seats.

I'm about to finish an LPN program. Our instructors made us do everything for our patients - all CNA work and LPN tasks. Any skill that you have a chance to do and do not - you get in trouble.

So the two hospitals we do our clinicals at are happy to see us coming. The nurses and CNA's know that their job will be much easier that day. The patients soon find out that all of their needs are taken care of.

We have clinicals 2 days a week, 12-hour shifts.

Don't even think about looking at someone's chart for your careplan until you get your tasks done.

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Brandy : Which hospital are you doing your clinicals this semster at??( I am at the big pink one on med-surg). I have also had the same experience as you. My first clinical was wonderful! The nurse made sure that I was a part of everything she did and I really learned alot by just observing. Now, yesterday , my nurse didn't even hardly say a word to me the entire time I was there ( 7 hours!!). SO, I just took matters into my own hands and gabbed my pt's chart and read it, did my physical assessment, and I found my pt's tech and helped out. I did get to pass one med to my pt. That was my exciting day. So, I guess it's just the luck of the draw on your nurse. But, hey! I'm still just trying to operate those silly beds ( ha ha). Good luck !!

Kim

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Specializes in DOU.

I found it was much better to be assertive in clinicals. After you listen to report, I think it is best to tell the nurse what you are qualified to do, and ask if there is anything extra she would like done for that patient. In my first clinical assignment, we did AM care, assessments, vital signs, wound care, oral meds, and later on, injections. If you have down time, offer to help a CNA or follow around a friendly nurse so you can observe what she does. If the nurse likes you, they may invite you to do some of the more simple procedures.

Also, tell that friendly nurse what skills you need to acquire so if one pops up, they will remember to call you.

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Hi!

I'm just finishing my first semester at Glendale College in California. During the first three weeks we practiced skills in the nursing lab (on mennequins) and after that we've been in the hospital two days a week for a total of 12 hrs a wk. We are passing medication already (with our instructor of course). As far as the attitude your recieving, I totally understand! It's the same at my hospital. If I can't find things to do I check to see if patients have orders for specimens, walk around and converse with patients, fill water and restock linen carts. I sometimes get lucky and pair with a cool RN who will allow me to perform wound care or something like that (but that's rare). Also listen to conversation in the nursing station, sometimes you over hear procedures that need to be done (NG tubes, catheters, PIC lines etc.) and ask the nurse if you can help or just watch. I think the RN's are overworked, overtired, and may view us as a liability perhaps? Just being in the hospital gives you experience and don't be afraid to be a little pushy. This is your career after all!

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Specializes in CHF, Med/Surg, Telemetry, Cardiac Care.

I remember that feeling of doing "nothing" 3 semesters ago. We walked in looking like deer in headlights! I hope you have a good, understanding instructor rather than the "tough love" I got from mine. She was a kind lady off the floor, but she was an Army nurse and was tough as nails. Needless to say, after that B- for a grade in clinical that semester, I've gotten all A's since. I don't know if it was her, or the instructors I had, haha.

Things will get better, I think the first semester is just awkward as heck for everyone. When you can walk onto a floor knowing your responsibilities for the day, then you know you're getting the hang of it!

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Our clinical was the same. We just did the am care and vitals. At first we were shy and stayed away from the nurses that weren't nice to us but then we learned to just get in there. So after all of the am care and vitals were finished we would follow the nurse when she did her rounds. A lot of times they would give us little tips and tricks as they were going along. It took them a few weeks to warm up to us but they did. Just listen and observe anything you can. Ask them to grab you if they are doing a procedure or wound care or anything else.

Hang in there it gets better! I just finished my last day of clinical for my first semester yesterday! What a feeling of accomplishment!

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Hello, I am coming up on the end of the first quarter and we didn't have "clinicals" either. The way our school works is that you learn the basic skills such as vital signs, bedmaking, positioning, and bed baths first then next quarter we start clinicals in a skilled nursing facility. We don't start hospital rotations until the 3rd quarter. We are supposed to be at the CNA level by the end of the 1st quarter. We are in an 8 quarter BSN program

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