How do clinicals work?

[beccaleigh72]

I just wanted an idea of how they work. Do you stay in groups and go throughout the hospital? Do you just watch the nurses? Do they throw you in there and tell you what needs to be done and you do it? With first year students going in I'm sure you don't know much so how does it work? Do you do labs first then go? I'm just full of questions.

[Gampopa]

I'm finishing up my med-surg 1 rotation in about a week :) to start we'd go in the afternoon before to get our patient, read through their chart, get a list of their meds, meet our preceptor if they were there. Our clinical instructor would call ahead and see who was on the floor that day and suggest patients who were appropriate. We'd go home and research the diagnosis, patho, meds, write up med cards, start thinking about a care plan. The next day we'd come in get report with our preceptor. At first, I pretty much shadowed my preceptor, took vitals, gave meds, injections, changed linens, etc. Real basics. After a couple weeks I really pushed myself to work more independently, do a full assessment, talk with PT, OT about the patient care, w/o my preceptor. Mostly I focused on the drugs I was giving and assessment, assessment, assessment. Tried to get that down pat. What was I looking for, why was I looking for it and how would I know what I found. My clinical instructor was challenging. She'd ask about patho, meds., what could possible go wrong, what would I do in the event that it went wrong, mostly asked what my plans were for my patient that day...OK assessment, meds., linens, then what? Chart? OK then what? Re-assess, OK but as some point don't you think it'd be good to get them out of bed? At most I had two patients at one time both of whom where pretty stable and could do some ADLs themselves.

Make sure you get help moving patients! For your and their safety. It's much better to ask, "Can you help me get Ms. Smith out of the chair" rather than, Can you help me get Ms. Smith off the floor, oh, and we might want to page her doc!"

[stressgal, RN]

My school has the pre-requisite of a State tested Nurse Aide course and certification prior to applying to the nursing program. This first quarter the skills we are focusing on are sterile field, simple and complex dressing changes and refreshing our TPR/BP skills. We will attend our first clinicals next week, LTC facility and our main focus will be assessment and developing a care plan for 1 client. Also we will be following that client throughout the day, caring only for the needs we have gained adequate experience for. In my state, as I'm sure other's, my instructor is equally responsible for any actions or mistakes I (and my fellow classmates) make. Therefore we are not asked to attempt tasks in which we are not competent.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[jschut, BSN, RN]

IN our clinicals, we were in small groups, and the instructor went with each of us to do any type of procedure we were allowed. No meds could be given until a certain day when the instructor was right by your side. No procedures were allowed until we had the instructor right by our side. No breathing was allowed until we had the instructor right by our side! LOL!

No seriously, it was fun...just take things in stride. Instructors are there to guide you, not to ride your orifice like a drill sarge!

[BJR87]

I'm in my second semester of nursing school and I was just wondering how many clinical hours most nursing schools have. I'm getting one clinical a week for 12 hours, and then 2 days of surgery this semester. We then have 3 hours of lab where we learn skills. This doesn't seem like that much to me and I know I'm only in my second semester but I feel like we haven't learned that much practical stuff yet. Does this sound unusual?

[FutureCRNA?, BSN, RN]

That sounds pretty normal to me. I know next semester (my third) in Med/Surg, we have 2 - 12's a week. And I believe that also applies to my 4th (and last) semester which is Advanced Med/Surg. It looks like both those semesters we will be in lecture 2 days a week.

[texasRN_14]

We have a total of around 192 clinical hours for the semester. I'm in Level 2 which is Med/Surg and we have clinical two days a week. Wed from 0615 - 1415 and Thursday from 1230-2000.

During my LVN program we had a similar number of hours but split up differently, usually equaling around 16 - 20 hours per week.

You will be amazed at how much you learn during your second semester.

[Ackeem, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

4 semesters and currently 1 clinical per week, 3rd year is 2 per week and 4th year is 3 per week i don't live in the u.s so its different where i'm at.

[Stephalump]

We have about 145 hours of clinical per semester, plus another 30 or so prepping in the lab.

[soxgirl2008]

I'm only in my first semester, but we have 8 hours a week of clinical and 6 hours a week in the lab learning skills. 2nd semester we have OB 16 hours a week (two 8 hour days) for 7 weeks, and then med/surg for 7 weeks (two 8 hour days as well)

[Devon Rex, ADN, BSN]

I'm on my last term of the nursing program in Central Florida... all I got was one clinical day per week (8-12 hours) throughout the program. Every school is different as they need to abide and meet the minimum of hours required by their State Board of Nursing.

Hope this helps!

[FutureCRNA?, BSN, RN]

In my first semester, we got 1 - 8 hour day a week for 9 weeks. Doesn't seem like near enough, but I guess being the first semester, they were just getting our feet wet :) It then increases each semester, so hopefully by the end I will feel prepared!

[SC APRN, DNP, APRN, NP]

16 hours a week for 15 weeks each semester.