13-hour clinicals too long?

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Anybody here think that 13-hour clinicals are just too bleeping long?

I know 12-hour shifts are becoming a norm in nursing - but I find 13-hour clinicals to be soul-, body-, and mind-draining.

(And I state this with the understanding that the nature of clinicals is different from real-world nursing, in that one is always in a state of some degree of befuddlement in clinicals, since the facility is different during each rotation, and you're basically always in "newbie" mode.)

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Specializes in Home Health, Case Management, OR.

I have clinicals 6 hrs a day, only 12 hrs per week!! So yes 13hrs is insane!!

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What semester are you in? We had 6 hour clinicals in Fundamentals, which was long enough since we weren't allowed to pass meds or do much else until the next semester. We went to 12 hour clinicals by about our 3rd week of med surg, and I preferred it that way. I would always feel like I was missing out on something cool with my patients if we got pulled before shift change for whatever reason. It depends what you're interested in, what you can do, and how many patients you're taking (or acuity if you're in ICU). We did Peds and OB at the end of our program, so there wasn't much we couldn't do, but those 12 hour days felt like 27 - I don't have any interest in working in either area. 12 hours flew by every ICU shift I had. It gets better when you can either do more or you're in an area you love, I promise!

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I'm in my third of four semesters, doing my psych rotation. I think if nurses reached out just a bit more to students during clinical, to involve them in patient care more, it would help hugely.

Ultimately, it was both a non-stimulating and exhausting day. Approaching and talking to psych patients, spending downtime in the student room, being lectured to, begging for a bio-break, etc.

I'm in a step-down unit next rotation, so maybe that will make the hours go by more quickly.

And, yes, 13 hours felt more like 27. We were all getting a bit loopy at the end - very fitting, I guess, since it was a psych rotation!

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We did shorter days for psych too - even the staff on the psych unit works 8s. We didn't pass meds and didn't really do any interventions/treatments, it was all practicing therapeutic communication (ugh). 7-8 hours was too long, and I have a psych degree - I thought I'd really enjoy that stuff!

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I've taught both 8- and 12-hour clinicals, and I hate 12s. Too long; too tiring for students (intellectually if not physically -- students go "brain-dead"), too much "down" time with nothing productive going on, etc. Also, with one 12-hour clinical day a week, in my area (acute psych), that means that students are rarely going to have the chance to build any kind of relationship with a client or see any change/progress happen, because they're rarely going to get to see a client more than one day. I would much rather have shorter clinical days and have more of them -- in my experience, that appears to be much more productive and educational for the students.

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Doing 12-hour shifts in my final semester preceptorship was great in preparing me for the rigors of actual practice as a nurse.

But 12-hours in psych? I was counting down every moment of our 6-hour clinical days. I feel for you, yuck!

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

It does bring more "reality" to nursing school.

(we won't even discuss interns and the 24-30 hr days).

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It does bring more "reality" to nursing school.

(we won't even discuss interns and the 24-30 hr days).

True. Just seems that the nature of clinical - i.e., the bewilderment of a novel setting, downtime boredom, and lack of control - makes those hours just seem to draaaaaaaag.

And interns having to do 24-30 hr days - yes, that's another reality that needs addressing, for the safety of interns and patients alike.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I don't approve of 12-hour clinicals in most cases. The students who do one 12-hour shift only get half as many patient experiences (histories, assessments, care plans, etc.) as those who do two 6-hour clinicals. I think the short-change the students.

However, I do believe students near the end of their program should get to do a couple of 12-hour shifts (or do a preceptorship or something like that) to get a taste of a full work day. That can be very beneficial. Like a lot of things, a few 12-hour shifts are a good thing, but more is not necessarily better.

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I do 12 hour clinicals but mine are preceptorships so I'm basically doing the same things as the new grads. It's fun and does go by pretty fast. I'm not used to it though so physically I am exhausted at the end! My poor feet. lol!

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True. Just seems that the nature of clinical - i.e., the bewilderment of a novel setting, downtime boredom, and lack of control - makes those hours just seem to draaaaaaaag.

And interns having to do 24-30 hr days - yes, that's another reality that needs addressing, for the safety of interns and patients alike.

Yeah I could never do those 24-30 hour deals. No way. I can't THINK when I am tired, let alone THAT tired. People would be kicking over left and right I would be making so many errors.

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