Has anyone shadowed yet? Volunteered?

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I know it's not a requirement, but I'm shadowing 1/2 shifts of 2 nurses next week, one in NICU and one in PACU. I'm really excited. If you've shadowed what were your experiences? Do you put in your resume that you've shadowed or is that just something to mention in your essay do you think?

Another question is, I just filled out paper work to volunteer at a major baltimore hospital. If you've volunteered what did you do there? How many hours a week did you volunteer? Did it give you good insight on the hospital setting.

Clearly I'm just trying to get my feet wet and bulk up my resume. I was a late bloomer as far as figuring out what I wanted to major in and now that I know my hearts in nursing I just want to dive in!

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Pre nursing school I shadowed nurses, Crna, and surgeons. I as well volunteered all of my 4 years while in undergrad for the hospital. And had a full time internship with the dept surgery for a semester. And you best believe I put it on my resume lol. It's all clinical experience that shows how dedicated you are to work in the medical field. I plan on cont to volunteer while in nursing school too. It's good networking and experience.

As far as what u will do it all depends. Sometimes I was abled to actually watch surgeries in the OR, assist nurses on their floors, be involved with medical students duties to some extent since this was pre nursing, or simply job shadow nurses and doctors. As long as ur not doing clerical work during your volunteering its worth it.

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Oh and I volunteered once a week for 5 hours. And yes if your given a good setting in the hospital to volunteer to work at its mos def worth it. I fell in love with nursing n the medical field each day I stepped foot on the floors as weird as that sounds lol

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Specializes in Not Sure.

So as a pre-nursing student we are allowed to shadow real nurses??? How can I get in on that???

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Depends where u volunteer at. I went to UF so Shands hospital in Gainesville, Fl was real good with getting undergrads shadow experience. Just get in touch with ur school or the hospital and let them kno u want to shadow and what area. The more experience u have volunteering the more hands on stuff u can do atleast for me

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Mayahp22, thanks for the info!!

EJ_81, I've asked around various hospitals and expressed interest in shadowing various shifts of nurses in different units. So far, the big break has been a friend of a friend who had me shadow her in PEDS and now next week I'm doing NICU and PACU.

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

Cool that you get to shadow! I would not list that on your resume necessarily, but it would be good to include anecdotes in essays, interviews, etc. I always think of resumes as listing experiences that you actually DID or participated in, while shadowing is mostly observation.

I volunteered at a hospital in MD. I was only allowed to do 4 hours per week (it was summer, they had school kids trying to earn volunteer hours, etc.), and I worked in ED Admitting. I didn't find it particularly enlightening; most of what I did was paperwork and, "Can I get you a blanket/ice/etc.?" Not to discount comfort measures, but it didn't give me a whole lot of insight into nursing.

If you are able, I would look into becoming a CNA or PCT and get a part-time job doing that somewhere. That has opened my eyes to the kinds of things working nurses encounter every day and has prepared me a lot better for what I anticipate in nursing school. I'm sure the world gets a lot bigger as you start learning the role even more, but CNA by far was the best route for me.

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Specializes in CTICU.

You get to shadow in NICU?! I need to get on your level! You lucky lady :) Please update us on how it goes for you!

I haven't gotten a chance to shadow nurses (not since high school anyway), and I don't have any relevant volunteer experience, but I just sent out a whole bunch of applications. I'm hoping to find my way into a nursery or NICU, I guess I should throw the word "shadow" into the mix!

I wouldn't put it in my resume that I shadowed, but I'd definitely put it in a cover letter or personal statement or somewhere on an application for nursing school or a related job while you're studying. It can help show what you're interested in, it'll give them a chance to ask you questions about your experience and if you want to continue down that path. It may also open up relationships with people for you if they know eachother

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