Is Nurse Shadowing Volunteer, a Huge Liability?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I was shocked, when I was told that WSU was going to cancel their Volunteer BSN Shadowing of a Nurse for 24 hours pre-req's? And...by the way...it had to be by a BSN only.

Why was I so shocked? Because, it took me almost 3 months and 14 days of continuous calling, all over, to get only 'a' hospital to agree to allow me to shadow anybody, let alone a BSN!

Then WSU told us why it was so difficult to fulfill that nurse shadowing pre-req' with the majority of hospitals and the medical field. The hospitals didn't want the liabilities.

Do you think Shadowing a Nurse is a huge Liability to the Healthcare community in your State? Why or Why not?

My 24 hours experience:I was NOT allowed to touch a patient; look in their file; touch the computer with information; touch any med cart; go anywhere without a BSN Nurse Shadow...and this was done all with the knowledge that I was an experienced 28 yrs LPN, and who had already gone through background check; fingerprinted; shots updated; filled out forms; safety rules; Hippa regulations; etc...And I am so proud of Detroit Receiving Hospital Neuro trauma unit, in Michigan, for giving me that valuable opportunity to shadow a BSN and teaching me the enforcement importance of safety; privacy; and the great opportunity to see real true honorable nursing on an experienced trauma floor unit...for 3 days. Boy...did they make me feel proud to start a BSN degree program!!!!!!!

Hey, did anyone else have difficulty in getting your 24 hours shadowing, or if you did what were your experiences? What is your State" pre-reqs in pre-nursing experiences? Is there a day; week; month or more pre-req for volunteering?

Now I will start, the agonizing, odious count down for that long await of a notification from WSU, by June 30. I have already been accepted by Oakland University Accelerated Second Degree Nursing Program (ASDN CD2) here in Michigan...Yay...Yep!!!!

Come on everyone lets support each other on this nursing community site!!!!

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I have applied for lots of nurse shadowing positions and out of 50 emails, I received an interest from one clinical research company. I have came to a conclusion that having someone with no experience person can be a huge risk factor as well as HIPPA confidentiality. I think you will have a better chance if its someone you know who referred you to them to get your foot in the door, or if you are willing to take a shift extended/weekend/holiday hours that most people don't want.

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I have applied for lots of nurse shadowing positions and out of 50 emails, I received an interest from one clinical research company. I have came to a conclusion that having someone with no experience person can be a huge risk factor as well as HIPPA confidentiality. I think you will have a better chance if its someone you know who referred you to them to get your foot in the door, or if you are willing to take a shift extended/weekend/holiday hours that most people don't want.

Hi Tasha92337, I think you make a very important point,...having someone with no experience, can create a huge risk factor. And your experiences in getting a nurse shadowing position...seems to be typical...from what I am hearing.

My question to you is why are the nursing schools putting so much wait on this particular pre-reqs to get into a nursing program, when they to are aware of the HIPPA confidentiality laws and the liability presented to hospitals?

Should the volunteer nursing be more on a helpful means to show that you have some exposure, but not so heavy notification of whether you are in or out of the nursing program?

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Honestly,that's a great question and hopefully their will be someone to chime in in this conversation. I'm not too sure of the fundamentals prior to nursing school but in general I know at some hospitals they may require references. hopefully your question will be answered :)

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Honestly,that's a great question and hopefully their will be someone to chime in in this conversation. I'm not too sure of the fundamentals prior to nursing school but in general I know at some hospitals they may require references. hopefully your question will be answered :)

Thanks Tasha92337...I hope you are right, that someone will come aboard and answers some questions for us.

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It was really easy to get into my hospital but I can see why other hospitals wouldn't want that. I think I did list some references that most likely went unchecked, and I filled out a short application indicating where I hoped to be placed. My hospital tends to focus more on getting sweet old ladies to run the gift shop- which confounds me a bit, surely the hospital can afford to pay someone to do that? But whatever.

I did say I wanted more clinical experience so they had me refilling waters and things like that on med/surg. I did see info about patients like names and their diets since it was necessary for me to know if they were NPO. I felt fairly useless doing that though so I asked to be transferred to the nursery, where I mostly held babies. That was fun, but again I started feeling pretty useless so I haven't been going.

I can see sooo many potential liabilities though. There is a lot that volunteers can't do but I'm more surprised by what they can do, at least here.

ETA: I plan on looking into it after I move but shadowing wasn't really presented as an option at my hospital per say.

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I honestly believe it is easier to shadow if you volunteer at the place first (hospital, nursing home, etc). I shadowed 3 different RN's in 3 different departments @ the hospital & had no problems doing so. My friend who has never volunteered can't get anyone to call her back. Don't know about the liability, but my nurses were pretty relaxed & let me observed (not stand off) everything they were doing. I was in the ER, med-surg, & cardio so I saw a lot!!

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I honestly believe it is easier to shadow if you volunteer at the place first (hospital, nursing home, etc). I shadowed 3 different RN's in 3 different departments @ the hospital & had no problems doing so. My friend who has never volunteered can't get anyone to call her back. Don't know about the liability, but my nurses were pretty relaxed & let me observed (not stand off) everything they were doing. I was in the ER, med-surg, & cardio so I saw a lot!!

Hi MarthaL thanks for the information, this will help a lot.

let me ask you a question, do you already work in that hospital?

Are you a RN already...if not are you in a nursing program?

Do your nursing program requires volunteer experiences as a pre-reqs to get into your nursing program?

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It was really easy to get into my hospital but I can see why other hospitals wouldn't want that."

..."My hospital tends to focus more on getting sweet old ladies to run the gift shop- which confounds me a bit, surely the hospital can afford to pay someone to do that? But whatever.

..."I did say I wanted more clinical experience so they had me refilling waters and things like that on med/surg.

..."I felt fairly useless doing that though so I asked to be transferred to the nursery, where I mostly held babies. That was fun, but again I started feeling pretty useless so I haven't been going.

..."I can see sooo many potential liabilities though. There is a lot that volunteers can't do but I'm more surprised by what they can do, at least here.

..."ETA: I plan on looking into it after I move but shadowing wasn't really presented as an option at my hospital per say.

Hi ShelbyaStar...you sound very innovative when it comes to the type of volunteer experience you wanted to be exposed to. It is good going after what you really needed...patient exposure.

Is there a specific type of volunteer experience pre-reqs being required by your nursing program? For instance, WSU requirements were, patient care, only under the shadowing of a BSN nurse... and documented and signed by that BSN.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

I'm in MI, too. Our program didn't have a requirement for shadowing, but I tried to arrange it with several hospitals in my area. I was put on a waiting list (after going through a full interview) and was told they were backed up with requests. I didn't get called in to shadow until after I started nursing program! I still went, just for the networking :)

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I'm in MI, too. Our program didn't have a requirement for shadowing, but I tried to arrange it with several hospitals in my area. I was put on a waiting list (after going through a full interview) and was told they were backed up with requests. I didn't get called in to shadow until after I started nursing program! I still went, just for the networking :)

Hi SoranoKris,..do you think this is Michigan's problem, of either being denied, placed on a wait-listed, or just a huge liability problem here in our State? I ask this because MI has some very powerful healthcare laws, as I am sure other States have also.

Did your school require any volunteering experience..as a pre-reqs?

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Specializes in ICU.

My school doesn't have a shadow requirement either. I did volunteer at a hospital a few years ago and they really didn't check anything. I had a TB test and that was about it. I think I may have signed a form for a criminal background check, but whether they did it or not, I have no idea. At the time I was making handmade baby goodies and I sold them to the gift shop so I kinda already knew some people. I also had hats I sold to the cancer shop so maybe because I knew some people it was no big deal for me to volunteer. I know our local hospitals are having a hard time finding volunteers. But I have never heard of a shadowing requirement.

I'm sure the school thinks it is weeding out some people by requiring that. But at the same token are they requiring engineer hopefuls to shadow and engineer, or a business student to go shadow a CEO, probably not.

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