Help about precepting decision

[Bekkidee]

Hello everyone! : )

I am a nursing student that is on my last semester of nursing school. In about a few weeks I will be doing my 144 hours of precepting. I was wondering from everyone who has been through precepting. Is it better to precept for the first time in the daytime or at night???

At first I thought doing dayshift would be beneficial to learn the chaotic 7 am to 7 pm shift...thought I would jump right in. But as I was discussing with my professor today, she said at night I will have a little more downtime to discuss with my preceptor about my patients whereas in the daytime, its so chaotic , I may not have much time to do that.

Any opinions and suggestions would be great! Thank you!!!

Becky

[oMerMero]

I am a night person, and I would recommend precepting at night, but alot depends on your schedule and if you think you can handle the weird night lifestyle. But your instructor is right, the night shift generally tends to be more casual with a little more time to talk. Patients don't sleep all night long, and you still do pt assessments and all the nursing stuff, there just aren't all the extra people around. By precepting at night you will also see if you like working nights, and then you will know that when you are looking for a job after graduation.

[moongirl]

I did dayshift and got way more experience than my friend who did night. I got exper with admits and dc's, fresh post ops, talking to docs. I also got a lot more skills, IV starts, PCA set ups, blood transfusions, etc

[Rabid Badger, BSN, RN]

I work a day/night rotating shift, so my practicum student gets experience in both. Union requires that all nurses work both shifts unless otherwise mutually agreed upon. Nights has more downtime, more paperwork, days are more chaotic. If you have to pick one over the other, I would recommend days. I always tell students to pack in as much experience as possible before they graduate, so they are better prepared when they are on their own. My student has had some pretty hellacious assignments, but she will be ready for anything when she is done.