Help on first placement

hello, im a first year student and we are being sent to a geriatrics ward for our 1st 7 week placement. we have been told that on the first week we will be observing, the second week we will have 2 patients and the third week 6 pts to look after. im absoloutley petrified as i have no past experience in a teritary health setting. would anyone be able to give me some advice on what to expect and how to go about my first placement. any advice will be greatly appreciated. thanks

amber

the best advice i can give to you is to not stress too much. your assessors won't be expecting an icu nurse they will be looking for a 1st yr student who can provide basic care/needs, do basic assessment and be an advocate for their client. make sure you talk about any fears you have regarding your placement with your course facilitator. bringing it up in class so you can get other viewpoints (and see you are not the only one with some fears) may allay your apprehension.

i have worked in nursing homes when i was an en and despite it being hard yakka there were many rewarding moments shared with the old people :)

if at all possible get close to an en or ain on your course that has some experience. one of the biggest fears a lot of new nurisng students have is the large degree of intimate contact with a naked total stranger! you will see lots of "dried arrangments", missing breasts (cancer) and observe many of the frailties of the human race.

dive into this opportunity with eyes and arms open. the oldies will love the extra time you can give them and those that don't have a clue (alzheimer's etc.) will benefit from your caring by birtue of yu being there.

the fact that you are worried is a good sign. it does show you care!

good luck and don't fret!

Thank you so much for your advice you have put me at ease. hahaha, I really like working with aged people. I think It was just the whole 6 pts to look after that has thrown me off, because I want to be the best I can be. I feel very overwhelmed with it all but I absoloutley love nursing so I should be okay. Again, thank you so much for your advice I know others in my tutorial who feel the same way so i will pass on your advice!

Amber

some of my most priceless moments in nursing have come from looking after "geris". before i started my training i thought i'd be the complete opposite to how i have turned out - i thought i'd want to do paeds and babies and stuff but in actual fact i prefer geriatrics. i guess the fact that most of the patients on my ward are over 70 anyway (and that is considered YOUNG, lol) has something to do with it as well. the elderly have so much to offer as they have lived a life, and even with dementia patients it can be such a pleasure to care for them, particularly when they are happy-demented.

i reckon that having your first placement in a geri ward would have to be one of the best ways to start off. i could go into all the reasons.. but i'm sure you'll see why. also, particularly with long-stay patients (ie waiting for NH placements), their medical care isn't always that complicated, meaning what you're doing most of the time is ADLs, albeit with a stack of oral meds, but usually only daily obs, so it also makes your day more predictable, which is good for time management when you're just starting off. i know that medically they're more complicated because of all their co-morbidities etc but as a 1st yr nursing student it isn't your primary concern (leave that to the med students!.. you will be able to interact with the patients better than them anyway).

have a great placement. you will find yourself doing the strangest things at times.. you just end up saying "oh, the things we do.."

if at all possible get close to an en or ain on your course that has some experience. one of the biggest fears a lot of new nurisng students have is the large degree of intimate contact with a naked total stranger! you will see lots of "dried arrangments", missing breasts (cancer) and observe many of the frailties of the human race.

dive into this opportunity with eyes and arms open. the oldies will love the extra time you can give them and those that don't have a clue (alzheimer's etc.) will benefit from your caring by virtue of you being there.

the fact that you are worried is a good sign. it does show you care!

good luck and don't fret!

i agree.... i am a third year student now, but i had no nursing experience prior to commencing my degree. i was nervous about the nudity and touching people. once i got into my first prac i really enjoyed the experience, and now am employed by the nursing home as a ain. the work is hard and demanding. however i love caring for these people, and get so much out of the experience. on a practical note, it is good to learn basic nursing skills, adl's. to become use to the tasks we performs, as well as time management. i have found it has enhanced my learning process. enjoy the experience, i believe as a student you have that protection of a facilitator,and debriefing if you are unsure about anything. as a student it is a wonderful opportunity to expand and increase your skills. they won't be looking for a grad, they will be assessing you on the skills they expect you will have learnt to this stage. also, this is a good foundation for entering the hospital system, where being comfortable around people will show.

good luck

Thanks for all your posts!! I have been dreading it but your responses have really reinforced what I thought prac would be like. On the nursing skills we are learning TPR (temp, pulse, respiration), Enteric feeding, BP, Bathing etc but what are ADL?? are these observations?? What do you suggest for a first year prac a geriatrics ward or a nursing home/hospice?? I have heard that the staff in nursing homes do not have much time as they are so busy. Iam really looking forward to working with the elderly, but dont want to stuff up.. haha oh well. Thanks again!! Ive really found this site to be a great source of help and information.. thumbs up to the people that put it together.

Cheers

Amber

Thanks for all your posts!! I have been dreading it but your responses have really reinforced what I thought prac would be like. On the nursing skills we are learning TPR (temp, pulse, respiration), Enteric feeding, BP, Bathing etc but what are ADL?? are these observations?? What do you suggest for a first year prac a geriatrics ward or a nursing home/hospice?? I have heard that the staff in nursing homes do not have much time as they are so busy. Iam really looking forward to working with the elderly, but dont want to stuff up.. haha oh well. Thanks again!! Ive really found this site to be a great source of help and information.. thumbs up to the people that put it together.

Cheers

Amber

Hi Amber

ADL's are activities of daily living, bathing, toileting, shaving, toothbrushing etc. It is hard work in a nursing home, heavy and busy. But it can be rewarding as well. Anyway once you have seen it you will know what I mean. Just go with a willingness to experience and you should be fine. Debrief with your facilitator if you have any questions.

Once again good luck, have a great experience :)

I am a first year student, i am now in my second term. Although I had been nursing as an N\A for many years I had never worked on an MAU unit (medical assessment) and you can guess where my first 7 week placement was can't you !!!!!!!!

I decided to sit down with my mentor first thing and let her know my experience, thoughts and worries. And I was pleased to find that she understood exactly what I was saying. She said that she had the same problem in her first year of training too :chuckle

Remember that all mentors where students once and that most of them understand where we are coming from. Relax and enjoy your placement, you will find that you learn much more .

I hope that it all goes well :)

Hello, im a first year student and we are being sent to a geriatrics ward for our 1st 7 week placement. We have been told that on the first week we will be observing, the second week we will have 2 patients and the third week 6 pts to look after. Im absoloutley petrified as I have no past experience in a teritary health setting. Would anyone be able to give me some advice on what to expect and how to go about my first placement. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Amber

I still remember my first placement (first assignment: sponge bathing a patient; my friend and I were so scared we didn't say a word to the poor woman, and didn't even know she'd had a stroke!).

About nudity - the patients will see you as a nurse first, and if you're not embarassed they'll be fine. You're certainly not the first person to have seen them, even if they're the first naked stranger you've seen :)

My first naked patient, after the elderly bathed woman, was a really cute twenty-one year old guy with one perfect buttock and one with a pressure sore big enough to put your fist into. I was freaked, but he'd had so many people traipsing in and out that he didn't care, just saked me if I'd seen one as big as that before. Pressure sore, that is!

Your clinical teacher is looking for initiative, knowledge, and accountability - nobody knows everything, and they won't expect you to, either. Make sure you own up to any mistakes, ask when you're not sure, and act in accordance with what you know and you'll be fine.

Good luck!

Thanks guys so much

have found your responses both entertaining and inspiring!! Thanks again....

Amber