What suprised you most when you started clinicals?

Nursing Students General Students

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I thought this would be a fun thread for those of us that haven't started yet.

What did you have to personally do that was interesting, suprising, horrifying, disgusting, shocking...anything!

Ok, I'll admit...I'm going for the "de-sensitizing" mode :)

Specializes in acute care.
I had nurse show me a little trick...you can fill the basin with tap water, empty the colostomy (if liquid, spray shaving cream over top and it hides the smell and sight until you make it to the toilet to dump it)

I'll try to remember this

Specializes in Peds.
Some of my favorite clinical memories so far:

----Having a cranky detox patient who yelled at everyone because they didn't speak Spanish pat my hand after I gave him an insulin shot and say, "Bueno, bueno" and SMILE.

Well, this IS the United States of America....... we speak English here.

Specializes in NP / USAFR Flight Nurse.
Well, this IS the United States of America....... we speak English here.

Ouch...not a very ethical frame of mind when you are caring for pts. I live in Florida and just because a pt doesnt understand english does not prevent empathy or deserving the best care :nono:

Specializes in Peds.
Ouch...not a very ethical frame of mind when you are caring for pts. I live in Florida and just because a pt doesnt understand english does not prevent empathy or deserving the best care :nono:

#1 Ethics have nothing to do with opinions. Apparently the patient was yelling at personnel, in our country that speaks English, because the personnel didn't speak Spanish. I'm sorry but I'm sick of going to the store and the bank and being forced be choose between Spanish and English in order to do a store or bank transaction. I speak English and know quite a bit of sign but I do not know Spanish and in the United States of America should not be forced to choose in order to do business in here. I've been to Mexico and really like it but I don't expect them to learn English to deal with me. If they don't know it then they probably won't get my business but that's my choice. I"m not forcing them to conform to my wishes.

#2 I think I'm adult enough to empathetically deal with patients and did not say they aren't deserving of care. I don't care the language. Is this not supposed to be a forum where we can vent without being disparaged? I guess not.

Learning where to position your head when showering (in particular old men) they just fart and do not care where your head is.

OMG... That is sooo funny! And true!!

Specializes in IMC, ICU, Telemetry.

My most memorable clinical experieces:

First clinical day ever - getting to d/c a NGT. I could hardly keep my silly grin off my face and look serious & professional to the patient. It was just about the coolest thing ever!

Most memorable pt - a 50-something male s/p hysterectomy. :eek: I found it fascinating and learned so much in the 2 days I cared for him - lots of psychosocial lessons learned. The patient and his partner told me as I wheeled him out after discharge teaching how much they appreciated my respectful, competent and warm care.

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

I remember quite clearly having a very sweet older lady (why are they always so sweet?) who had a horrible case of weeping cellulitis and edema on her lower legs. I was in my very young 20's and thought this was the grossest thing I had ever seen. That wasn't all. She proceeded to ask me for this thing that looked like a little kazoo (that's the only way I can explain what it looked like) that she then filled with water and used to flush out and clean her nose, spitting the water out of her mouth into the kidney basin. Yuck! Now, I realized that the nasal passages and pharynx are connected to each other and I had seen one or two cases of kids who blew milk out of their nose while they were laughing and drinking at the same time, but it was absolutely shocking and gross to watch this lady do this! I remember thinking "why not just blow your nose?" I've never seen anything like it since and I've been a nurse for 31 years now.

Another thing I saw that was really quite shocking was a post-thoracotomy patient who had an open, draining thoracostomy wound that she had a plastic tube that she would put in and out of this opening in her back for the drainage! Then she would have us cover it with a couple of 4x4's. A few years later I learned that this was sometimes done with cancer patients. When I first saw this I can only say it was a shock to see a deep hole in somebody's back.

Oh, that reminds me of something! I remember seeing a patient who had an infected tunneling wound of the back. Now, this was gross. I was with the doctor as he was changing her dressing. He "milked" the drainage out of this wound by running his fingers down the lower part of her spine, and I kid you not, this thick pale green goo (purulent drainage) came out of the wound opening down by the coccyx. Oh, god, it was disgusting. The amount of this thick green drainage he "milked" out of this tunneled wound was sickening.

When I see pre-nursing students who post questions about how to deal with blood or poop I always have a bit of a laugh because blood and poop are nothing, at least from my point of view. I'll take blood, poop and pee any day over some of the other stuff I've seen. I think that when you go into nursing as a very young person, you can't begin to imagine the things that you are going to see.

Specializes in NP / USAFR Flight Nurse.
#1 Ethics have nothing to do with opinions. Apparently the patient was yelling at personnel, in our country that speaks English, because the personnel didn't speak Spanish. I'm sorry but I'm sick of going to the store and the bank and being forced be choose between Spanish and English in order to do a store or bank transaction. I speak English and know quite a bit of sign but I do not know Spanish and in the United States of America should not be forced to choose in order to do business in here. I've been to Mexico and really like it but I don't expect them to learn English to deal with me. If they don't know it then they probably won't get my business but that's my choice. I"m not forcing them to conform to my wishes.

#2 I think I'm adult enough to empathetically deal with patients and did not say they aren't deserving of care. I don't care the language. Is this not supposed to be a forum where we can vent without being disparaged? I guess not.

WOW!

I was not insulting you...so do not get your panties in a bunch. I was just simply saying that the language of the pt should not effect how the tx or empathy is given. Thats ALL. Not questioning if you are an adult or not...how and where you choose to shop...just how you care for your patients. You sounded in your post like "This is America" flat out..."speak english". Just saying that no matter what language they speak (in many cases, pts cannot speak at all, much less the same language as me) and I would NEVER say in my head or to another person, "Well, this is America..."

It sounded very rude and so did your reply...

IMO, this is a field where empathy is a must and an attitude like you are showing looks poor on your character. I know sometimes we need to vent and if we have a bad day, might sound like we are being rude, and I hope that was just the case. Either way, best wishes in your career ;)

First, be prepared to have really bad days. There are some days when nothing goes right, you get yelled at, your patient poops all over the floor. It happens, just be prepared and remember not every day is like that.

Second, you CAN have a lot of down time..if you choose to. There is always something to do, so don't sit on your butt. Even if you think you are done everything you probably aren't. It is definitely worth it to whip out a chart and go through it to understand the pathophy. of the disease your patient has or to re-look up meds. I have caught many errors this way and have even prevented a few discharges (which made me feel bad for the patients lol).

Third, ALWAYS ASK TO BE INVOLVED. Some preceptors aren't too nice, so I understand not wanting to bug them, but most of the time just jump in. Be honest. Say, "I've never done an I.V before, we learned how to do them in lab and I would love to try". etc. You will be surprised at how many people will be willing to help you so long as you are honest about your ability.

Fourth, beds and bathtime. Figure out what your system is going to be for doing this. I have no prior healthcare experience so giving a bath was way harder for me than inserting IVs. Grab some of your classmates who are sitting on their butt to help you with this if you need to.

Five, you are in a healthcare setting...so always be professional. I mean, if you want to make little jokes to your fellow classmates just make sure you do so quietly because you never know who is lurking around the corner :lol2:

Six, the family is not your patient. Your patient is your patient. The family is important but don't let them intimidate you or get in your way of providing the care your patient needs. I've had a family from hell...my stategy...smile and nod and go about my business. It's NOT important that they want coffee...it is important that the patients heart rate is 120 out of nowhere.

Seven, have a good attitude and be open to learning. You will learn a lot if you want to and very little if you don't try to.

First, be prepared to have really bad days. There are some days when nothing goes right, you get yelled at, your patient poops all over the floor. It happens, just be prepared and remember not every day is like that.

Second, you CAN have a lot of down time..if you choose to. There is always something to do, so don't sit on your butt. Even if you think you are done everything you probably aren't. It is definitely worth it to whip out a chart and go through it to understand the pathophy. of the disease your patient has or to re-look up meds. I have caught many errors this way and have even prevented a few discharges (which made me feel bad for the patients lol).

Third, ALWAYS ASK TO BE INVOLVED. Some preceptors aren't too nice, so I understand not wanting to bug them, but most of the time just jump in. Be honest. Say, "I've never done an I.V before, we learned how to do them in lab and I would love to try". etc. You will be surprised at how many people will be willing to help you so long as you are honest about your ability.

Fourth, beds and bathtime. Figure out what your system is going to be for doing this. I have no prior healthcare experience so giving a bath was way harder for me than inserting IVs. Grab some of your classmates who are sitting on their butt to help you with this if you need to.

Five, you are in a healthcare setting...so always be professional. I mean, if you want to make little jokes to your fellow classmates just make sure you do so quietly because you never know who is lurking around the corner :lol2:

Six, the family is not your patient. Your patient is your patient. The family is important but don't let them intimidate you or get in your way of providing the care your patient needs. I've had a family from hell...my stategy...smile and nod and go about my business. It's NOT important that they want coffee...it is important that the patients heart rate is 120 out of nowhere.

Seven, have a good attitude and be open to learning. You will learn a lot if you want to and very little if you don't try to.

Wow! Really good advice! Thank you!

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