4 skills down, 2 to go! 1st semester students

[Jennerizer]

Today we had our wound dressing change skills evaluation & tomorrow we have our evaluation on inserting & removing a Foley catheter. Our final skill in Nursing I is in 2 weeks on administering meds & giving injections. It amazes me how quickly this semester is moving along. We have spring break in 2 1/2 weeks! (soooo looking forward to it so I can clean up this place I call my house!) Where has the time gone??? :)

How are the other first semester nursing students doing? Are you in the clinical setting yet? At my school, we don't start clinicals until all 6 skills are complete. So after spring break is over, we'll be spending 2 days a week at the nursing home & then the hospital. Time to go shopping for the lovely white uniform!!:chuckle

[Jennerizer, ASN, RN]

I'm looking forward to the clinical experience....which is practically a month away. I guess partly because I want to see what it is like & partly because then we only have one day of class a week. :)

I'm curious, how do the clients/patients (which do you call them?) respond to meeting you for the first time? Are they made aware that you are a student nurse? What do you do all day? Our clinicals are eight hours per day, two times a week. We only get 1 patient & I can't imagine what I'll be doing for 8 hours a day.

[essarge]

First, the instructor usually goes ahead of time to get patients for the students. If the patient can understand then the instuctor will ask if they mind having a student nurse, but you still go in and introduce yourself as a student nurse when you start with your patient.

While eight hours seems like a long time, there really is quite a bit to do. We read the complete chart (some histories were fascinating!), did complete patient care (from start to finish), and when we had some "down time", we worked on care plans.

Our care plans were/are very detailed and take quite a while to complete. Mine usually take at least 2-3 hours (my first one took longer) because you not only have basic patient info, but also you go through Maslow's needs, nursing diagnosis, rational, norms, etc. This also included numerous books to look up "norms".

Enjoy the time you have with your patient and get to know as much about them as you can. It will give you a whole new perspective on what it's like to "be on the other side"!

[epg_pei]

Originally posted by Jennerizer

I'm looking forward to the clinical experience....which is practically a month away. I guess partly because I want to see what it is like & partly because then we only have one day of class a week. :)

I'm curious, how do the clients/patients (which do you call them?) respond to meeting you for the first time? Are they made aware that you are a student nurse? What do you do all day? Our clinicals are eight hours per day, two times a week. We only get 1 patient & I can't imagine what I'll be doing for 8 hours a day.

I call them patients when in hospital, residents or clients when in homes....most are very comfortable with student nurses, understanding we need to learn and are there to help...I identify myself as a student nurse, since there is the chance a patient will assert his/her right to refuse care from a student...

My first day was just orientation really...bed baths, feeding, making beds, cleaning up rooms, removing trays, adjusting patients position, "therapeutic conversation", hiding from your instructor, etc...report takes an hour off both ends of the day, so it's really not that long for me...

Good luck on yours, keep an open mind, and be prepared to let thing roll off your back...

[javamom]

I'm a 1st semester student nurse too. We're on week 2 of clinicals. I have one clinical per week at the hospital and then one clinical at a homeless shelter.

We sign off in lab as we go. We don't wait to get all our stuff signed off b/c that would mean WAY less clinical time. So far I've signed off on bed bath, making occupied and unoccupied beds, ROM, restraints, head to toe physical assessment and sign off on meds next week! We won't actually be able to pass meds until we get our math test done and graded (which is the week before spring break) So after spring break, we'll be doing all of that. We also learn foley insertion and removal, wound care and dressings along with ng tube insertion and removal ...all before spring break! I swear I'm losing my mind with how fast everything is going! :chuckle

Good luck to you all!

[KatieBelle]

I am starting my 2nd week of Clinicals. We've done Central Dressing line changes, bed making, suctioning, Foleys, and things like that! I LOVE clinicals. We are in clinicals 2 days a week from 6-3 in the afternoon. It is so much fun and I'm actually gettin to do what we studied...:) Good luck to you guys!