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My clinical group is split into two, with four of us on one side of the floor and three on the other. Our instructor goes back and forth between each group, and if we need her we can just grab her. She's not always around, which is good because if she was hovering over me I would be even more nervous. :)
-Kate
Our instructor leaves 2 of us on a floor, with 2 preceptor RN's(staff nurses) for the day. Then they usually come back twice during the day for a pseudoreport on our assigned pt's, and then again later to see if anything has changed. As nice as it may sound to have this lazzie faire (sp?) type of clinical,a lot of the preceptor RN's aren't exactly thrilled to have puppy dogs follow them around for the day, so it gets hard to practice skills and what not.
First year: Instructors are assigned to a group of 6 or so--they're floating about the floor. Very accessible...
This year's clinicals: We get more freedom--later in the year, we'll be with preceptors. The hospital requires that there be a instructor in the building whenever the students are here, though.
We had 6-8 students per instructor the first 2 semesters. My instructor was floating around the floor as well, checking in on students, advising, assisting, showing, etc. etc. 1st semester they watched like a hawk; 2nd semester you basically go get them when you are doing your meds. But both of my clinical instructors were always available...mind you...you might had a wait a short bit while she was helping another student but you knew where they were.
HyperRNRachel
483 Posts
While you are at clinical, where is your instructor?