Late to clinical

[JePierreB, ADN, RN]

I was late to clinical for the first time and it devastating. My alarm didn't go off and when I finally woke up, I woke up at the exact time clinical starts. So I got ready as fast as I can and because of how far my clinical site was, it took me an hr and half to get there and with traffic, so I was late by 2 hrs. My clinical instructor said that she's going to have to report it/note it because she wants to set an example to the other students in our group so that they'll know they can't get away with coming late and told me to make sure to not come late ever again. This is my first time being late and it's my second semester. I know now I will have multiple alarms set to wake myself up. I just feel extremely bad this happened and it's been days but I'm still hurting.

[Sour Lemon]

We all feel the thin ice when we're skating on it. It sounds like you have a good solution, though. I think you'll probably be OK.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

It will eventually happen to all of us at some time, if not clinicals then as a nurse. Horrible feeling but it happens. Multiple alarms definitely helps (and starts feeling a bit OCD). I remember a time before cell phones and the power going out. Had to invest in battery backup.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

It happens. One time I set my alarm for PM instead of AM. Thanks to a random loud noise, I was only a little more than an hour late. As long as you stay within the attendance policy and make it to what the state requires for clinical time, it's not that big of a deal. Don't feel bad. Everyone does it at some point.

[40thEditionRN]

It'll be okay. We're only human. Just to make you feel better, I remember cooking dinner for my family one evening, cleaning up and then sitting on the couch. At 7:30pm, my phone rings and I see it's the hospital where I worked at the time. "You're on the schedule for tonight."

Holy crap! I was completely taken by surprise, had no nap, and had to drive into the city for night shift. I felt like such an ***. The charge nurse needed to get report on all my patients until I got there. Ugh. I felt SO guilty.

It sounds like you're contrite, and have a plan to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's all you need! Now give yourself a break!

[BarrelOfMonkeys, BSN, RN]

This didn’t happen to me in school but to some of my cohort. They felt awful and they served their punishment (make up on missed clinicals requires additional $$$, a make up on a weekend day of staff choosing during finals, and for the one you missed you still have to write a research paper and present it during finals week as well). Anyone who missed only ever missed one and everyone got to graduate. Hang tough, it sounds like you have a good plan to be successful!

While I never missed a clinical in school I had been called because I didn’t show up to work once when I was scheduled. I ran in to work feeling awful with one very upset nurse waiting for me. ?

[Bearcat-RN]

Feeling awful like you do is normal. Sounds like an honest mistake, and that you are going to take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. As long as you don’t become a repeat offender (had one of those in our cohort), you’ll be fine and soon you will forget this ever happened. Good luck!

[JePierreB, ADN, RN]

Thanks everyone!

I spoke to my general instructor about it and she said, "lets not have it become frequent because it can be problematic and that's when it involves more people from the school" and also, she going to see what I can do to make up the 2 hrs. I was definitely thinking the worse that can happen (like being dismissed) or something but yeah.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

I don't know if this is true, but I think a school has to have students in Clinical for a certain number of hours to satisfy state and /or certification requirements. That's what we were told back when I was in school.

Great idea to set multiple alarms.

I appreciate your mature view on this. While the world is still orbiting, it is very, very important to be punctual, both now and in your work life. Here's wishing you well.

[Superbabes]

I can totally relate to this:(. First year of nursing school, clinical was once a week for 5 weeks and my first day I slept through my alarm..:( my instructor did not let me forget that either. I made sure I was on top of everything from that day on. If it makes you feel better I graduated 2 years ago and have been work since:). Don’t be too hard on yourself and just learn from it.

[jb_mmmm, BSN, RN]

OOF that happened to me this one time during my third semester in my peds clinicals. Slept through my alarm and woke up when my friend called me asking me if I was in the parking deck of the hospital. I sh*t you not I screamed and called my preceptor while I was changing and told her that I'd drive as fast as I could together, resulting in me getting to the floor at 7:30am instead of 6:45am. During my final review I got an unsatisfactory for professionalism because of it, but I still passed and now I'm starting my nurse residency next month. Although, I'm now paranoid about waking up early in the morning so I just end up staying up really late and sleeping a really shallow sleep with ten alarms set at most an hour early. Thank god I'm gonna be night shift.

This is just a short blip that will most likely just blow over, I hope that you're not beating yourself too hard over it.

[elephantlover, BSN, RN]

It is a good lesson. I am sure you will not make it again. Nursing schools have to prepare you for a real job where there would be disciplinary action. If you mind your ps and qs you should be fine. I use two alarms on my phone and an alarm on my watch. I double check the time and volume on both each night. Budget 20-30 minutes extra than you think you need and you should be fine.

And ps. Have some confidence. shake it off. prove that you can grow and learn from this. We all make mistakes. It is what we do to learn from them that matters.