Healthy Clinical Lunch?

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lately i've been really struggling with ideas on what to bring to clinical for lunch. aside from the regular sandwich or salad, what are some things that you all pack for lunch? i find that after eating breakfast around 5:30-6am (our clinical starts at 8am), i'm really starving by 12 noon.

i also should probably mention that i try to keep my meals healthy and i'm not big on junk food.

thanks! :)

Why do you have to eat so much earlier than your clinical start time? Can you eat closer to start time? I make oatmeal and pour vanilla soy milk over the top and eat it in the car on the way to clinical. Then for lunch I use miltons origianl whole grain bread and make a sandwich (usually turkey and swiss with lettuce and mustard) and bring a baggie of trailmix a fruit and something to drink). When it is a 12 hour shift I add a yogurt for a mid morning snack and a power bar for an evening snack.

Specializes in Medical-Oncology.

Do not let yourself get famished! Your blood sugar will be low and you could have a reaction watching a procedure (I fainted during PICC insertion). Eat a snack in mid-morning. Lean cuisine or Amy's organic frozen meals are good, if you have somewhere to put them.

Why aren't you allowed to take your lunch to clinical? That is stupid on the school's part.

You could take prepacked peanut butter crackers or cheese crackers in your clipboard. Or a handful of nuts and raisins in a zip loc baggie.

we can't bring anything in due to lack of space. I do have a clipboard and pack snacks but not lunch.

I usually make sure I bring tons of food so I do not go hungry because 12 hours is a loooong time if you're hungry!

I like to make turkey sandwiches on whole wheat with tomato, lettuce, etc. If I am pressed for time, I go for the peanut butter sandwich. Never fails to please.

For snacks, I always have my Stonyfield Farms yogurt (highly recommended) and a bag of popcorn. I pop a big batch of popcorn (on the stove, old fashioned way) at the beginning of the week and this makes a great nutritious snack. I usually have a bag of grapes or any other fruit that I purchase that week.

Also, if you cook at home, definitely don't leave out leftovers! A nice pot of chili goes a long way and is easy to warm up in the cafe microwave.

I get hungry over the 13 hours too, also my commute is an hour each way so I am up by 4am to got to clinicals. I have yet to find the time to snack during clinical though and I have never seen any of my nurses snack or even go to lunch for that matter. I am sure they must I just haven't seen them. We get 30minutes for lunch but we meet with our instructor and usually take over an hour, so I atleast get enough time to eat, however our cafeteria food is really nasty.

I bring my lunch to both clinical and class pretty much every day, for health and wallet reasons. I plan my grocery shopping each week and all our dinners in advance, so I only have to shop once. I always intentionally make something each week that I expect to produce leftovers from the two of us for my husband and I both to take to lunch. Here's some examples of what I've found heats up well, even if you freeze it:

Penne pasta w/ spinach, red peppers, pine nuts, and feta

Chicken pot pie (not that healthy I know, but it's got lots of veggies)

Portobello lasagna (or any other veggie style you like)

Soups and stews, especially thicker ones - I've been into chicken and wild rice lately

Any kind of stir fry, and you can use brown rice

Salads with the dressing on the side and no croutons - they get soggy

...can't think of any more of my staples right now, if I do I'll repost! Also, I always bring yogurt/lowfat cottage cheese that I can eat in 2 minutes if it's all I have, and usually something salty in a little ziploc, so if I don't get time to eat my lunch, I'll have something to munch on during post-conference. Also, I always keep at least 2 granola bars in my clinical bag for emergencies. I'm in semester 3, and I haven't gained a pound yet! I also make food that I love - I'd hate to be forced to eat at the caf everyday - and the odd times that I do, they have a decent salad bar.

Specializes in Emergency.

I've learned that time management includes time to maintain my blood sugar. You need to find that 5 minutes to get something into your system, be it a hard boiled egg, bagel, an apple or whatever.

Personally, I eat leftovers for lunch and bring one of the above for that 1100 snack. Eat lunch at 1330 and I'm OK.

Specializes in LTC.

I bring lunches to school and clinicals too. My theory is that I'm not going to pay $5.00 for a sandwich that I can make for $1.00. I'm with everyone else, when you cook make left overs and package it in easy handy to grab storage containers.

I drive my roommate nuts doing this. I've taken over the freezer with ziplock storage containers full of meals.

To the person who isn't allowed to bring a lunch, what about bringing a package or two of instant oatmeal or ramen and stealing a styrofoam cup from the caffeteria to make it in?

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