1st clinical ... nervous .. any advice?

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So i am starting my first clinical (geriatrics) in about a week and am kind of nervous. I have never worked in a health care setting before and am just not sure what to expect. any advice or pointers for me ? i'm also kind of shy :uhoh3:

btw, does anyone have any recommendations as to where i should read up on the basic nursing skills ? thanks in advance :)

Don't you have a "lab" book that has all the clinical skills with photos and step-by-step instructions? We were required to have the Wilkinson & VanLeuven Fundamentals of Nursing vol. 1 & 2 - vol. 2 is the skills manual that has photos and steps. It's a great book. Otherwise, maybe check out the websites that your other books offer? Maybe one of them has something on there about skills.

You could also just google "nursing skills with photos" and see what comes up.

Hope this helps!

Specializes in Emergency.

I'm just starting RN school this semester, but I can give advice from my observations with CNA and EMT clinicals, and from working in a unit that gets a LOT of nursing students doing preceptor rotations.

First of all, look professional and be punctual. Being more than 10-15 minutes early is annoying, and so is being late AT ALL. The students that impress us the most are ones that show up with a willing mind and ready to work their A$$es off. Do whatever your nurse asks you to do and don't wander off to do things on your own.

Also, take everything as a learning experience. You will inevitably get stuck with two types of people: nurses who hate to have students and nurses who love to impart their knowledge. You can learn tremendous amounts from either one, and you should strive to do so, but don't take things too personally. If a nurse asks you to give them some room, they're probably just feeling cramped or need more space to work...if they ask you questions and you don't know the answer, don't feel stupid, just learn from it. Hopefully that makes sense. Clinicals are all in the attitude of the student in my opinion, so just make the most of it and work hard and you'll be fine.

As far as materials, based on what nurses I work with and what I bring to work myself, I would say your stethoscope, a small notepad, black pen and maybe some bandage scissors/trauma shears would be sufficient. A drug book is kind of big to lug around, but bringing it may not be a bad idea either. Personally I just have epocrates on my phone, but they may frown on you using a cell phone at clinicals.

Specializes in ER, progressive care.
btw, does anyone have any recommendations as to where i should read up on the basic nursing skills ? thanks in advance :)

Did your school make you purchase any kind of lab book? In our lab we practiced our nursing skills...our required book was Perry & Potter's Clinical Nursing Skills book. Very basic skills that we covered:

* Vital signs

* Ambulation/patient transfer

* Positioning

* Body mechanics (very important when you're boosting up patients in bed or turning them)

* Morning care, including how to give bed baths

* How to change an occupied bed (so much easier when they're unoccupied but most of the time they are!)

And then of course as the semester went on, we covered basic and sterile dressing changes as well as sterile technique and injections (IM, SQ).

Did your school make you purchase any kind of lab book? In our lab we practiced our nursing skills...our required book was Perry & Potter's Clinical Nursing Skills book. Very basic skills that we covered:

* Vital signs

* Ambulation/patient transfer

* Positioning

* Body mechanics (very important when you're boosting up patients in bed or turning them)

* Morning care, including how to give bed baths

* How to change an occupied bed (so much easier when they're unoccupied but most of the time they are!)

And then of course as the semester went on, we covered basic and sterile dressing changes as well as sterile technique and injections (IM, SQ).

Ah, so that's basic nursing skills. No one ever delineated what was basic and what wasn't in my class.

Did your school make you purchase any kind of lab book? In our lab we practiced our nursing skills...our required book was Perry & Potter's Clinical Nursing Skills book. Very basic skills that we covered:

* Vital signs

* Ambulation/patient transfer

* Positioning

* Body mechanics (very important when you're boosting up patients in bed or turning them)

* Morning care, including how to give bed baths

* How to change an occupied bed (so much easier when they're unoccupied but most of the time they are!)

And then of course as the semester went on, we covered basic and sterile dressing changes as well as sterile technique and injections (IM, SQ).

I have the potter and perry textbook, not lab book. Im assuming their similar.. but thank you!

When in the nursing field you aren't going to be able to have the time to think back to some nursing skill you read in the book. You have to be able to go in there and just do it! Thats why they make us practice so much in class. Things never go how they are supposed to so just go with the flow :)

I remember I was nervous my first day but by the end of the semester you will be walking right in those rooms a confident nursing student!

Go see as many patients as you can! Follow your nurse around from room to room. Ask lots of questions and keep an open mind !

Good luck!

Specializes in ER, progressive care.
Ah, so that's basic nursing skills. No one ever delineated what was basic and what wasn't in my class.

oh, + oxygen therapy and I/O stuff...

I was just going off what I learned in my Foundations 1 class, which was all basic nursing skills stuff :)

I have the potter and perry textbook, not the lab book. Im assuming they're similar...but thank you!

This is the book I am talking about: Amazon.com: Clinical Nursing Skills and Techniques, 7th Edition (9780323052894): Anne Griffin Perry, Patricia A. Potter: Books

I have the 6th edition. It's not a lab book; just our required textbook for our lab component.

When in the nursing field you aren't going to be able to have the time to think back to some nursing skill you read in the book. You have to be able to go in there and just do it! Thats why they make us practice so much in class.

This is very true. OP, take advantage of your practice time in lab and also take advantage of any open practice times that are available to you. And also be assured that you will never do a skill by yourself unless you have done it before and feel comfortable. You will either have the RN you are following or your instructor with you and they will help guide you in the necessary steps to complete whatever you are doing! Always be honest and if you've never done it before, just tell them! You can practice in lab but I feel most of your "nursing skills" really come about when you practice them in clinical. You can't be expected to know EVERYTHING - you will see different things on different units!

oh, + oxygen therapy and I/O stuff...

They never said anything about nurses administering oxygen, lol. Crazy, I know.

They did spend about five minutes holding up and naming various oxygen administration devices. Thankfully, I was a paramedic and could've taught that. Some of the elements of this program are so shallow, lol.

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