More Clinical, or more Lecture?

Maybe it's just the way I learn, but it seems as if I had more clinical time, i could get a little confidence quicker. Right now, in my first semester, I only go to clinical once a week, and lecture twice, with 1 lab day also. The lab day just isn't near the same as the real deal. During lecture, i'm only focused on passing the tests, which since they are all multiple choice is easy to do, but I don't think that's making me a better future nurse.

Anybody else just wish you could bypass the majority of the school work, and just jump in there with clinicals?

Of course, i also have a long standing theory of anybody, can do any job, if you just get them in there for 3 months doing it.

Scott

[AKAKatydid]

Scott, I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one.

The more I'm in the hospital, the more I realize how much I DON'T know.

If you feel like you need more experience in clinical settings, I recommend doing CNA work. I left my cushy office job to start teching, because I thought it would help me with school. It was a big pay cut for me, but I absolutely love my tech job, and plan on staying put thru nursing school. (Hopefully, they'll have a place for me as an RN when I graduate too!) :)

[Mandarella]

I chose the college I did because it was the one with the most clinical hours.

CNA/Tech job couldn't hurt though, even if you did it part-time or even per-diem. Could still give you that extra boost.

[nursehottie]

Maybe it's just the way I learn, but it seems as if I had more clinical time, i could get a little confidence quicker. Right now, in my first semester, I only go to clinical once a week, and lecture twice, with 1 lab day also. The lab day just isn't near the same as the real deal. During lecture, i'm only focused on passing the tests, which since they are all multiple choice is easy to do, but I don't think that's making me a better future nurse.

Anybody else just wish you could bypass the majority of the school work, and just jump in there with clinicals?

Of course, i also have a long standing theory of anybody, can do any job, if you just get them in there for 3 months doing it.

Scott

It's because you are in your 1st semester. I didn't get confidence until I was in my 3rd semester (now). I think theory is important, things will begin to click for you next semester I bet. We all focus on passing the tests, but focus on truely understanding the material as well. When you truely understand it, you will be able to critically think in clinical, and apply what you know. But...you're 1st semester, so it'll happen, you're probably just learning the basics now right?

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

I agree you just arent really putting things together yet. Your clinicals arent coinciding with your lecture right now and it seems so unnecissary and confusing to you.

And actually Scott, i think your "theory" is seriously flawed. No way could you walk on a unit and work for 3 months and "know" anything from a nursing point of view.

Reality check is overdue. Get a job as a tech.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Nursing school is long and hard. I just don't see how adding more of one or the other is going to help. There's no way to learn everything you're going to learn. Good preceptorships at the end and good on-the-job preceptorship afterward is most important IMO.

Hang in there, you'll get the hang of things soon enough. As someone above said, learning the patient care tasks without the bookwork is a tech. I'm sure you realize that and are just venting. When I was in school, I thought the same thing. It would be nice indeed to have no bookwork at all. :rotfl:

[HitmanCFYA]

I agree you just arent really putting things together yet. Your clinicals arent coinciding with your lecture right now and it seems so unnecissary and confusing to you.

And actually Scott, i think your "theory" is seriously flawed. No way could you walk on a unit and work for 3 months and "know" anything from a nursing point of view.

Reality check is overdue. Get a job as a tech.

I don't think it is. The job I have now is very intricate, with nothing that directly follows any patterns, and when you hire in, you're expected to be able to perform everything well enough to keep the ship afloat so to speak within a couple months. I'm not saying you'll know everything, but you'd know enough to get by, and not bring everything to a halt.

Now the part about clinicals and lecture not coinciding...you're probably right. I guess optimum would be touch on it in lecture, see it in clinical, and then re-touch in lecture. With everybody seeing different things in clinical though, you could never get that system to work out.

I guess I learn by doing, and it's just a little frustrating right now. At least next semester we have the chance to start IV's and give out medications, and after that semester I'm going to try and do an extern program with the hospital i'm doing clinical at currently. Maybe then i'll get to do some more stuff, and get some confidence.

Scott

[mariedoreen]

At least next semester we have the chance to start IV's and give out medications, and after that semester I'm going to try and do an extern program with the hospital i'm doing clinical at currently. Maybe then i'll get to do some more stuff, and get some confidence.

Scott

Our instructors drive home to us that ANYONE can do the skill... what you're doing in nursing school is learning when and WHY you do the skill, what to assess for before, during and after you perform that skill and WHY, what can go wrong and WHY, how you'll counteract it when it does, and WHY you're going to counteract it in that way so that when that goes wrong too you'll know WHY and know what you should do then... It's not as easy as doing a mechanical skill, you have to know so much more than that. Nursing is about knowledge. The skills come with practice true, but you've got to have the theory before you have any business being near that patient.

[jasonglh]

I think one thing you will see is the difference between how men and women learn. For myself I would like to skip most of the lectures and just give me the test now. 1/2 of my lectures are repeats of anatomy 1/4 drug info and 1/4 disease process. Part of that is my ADD but I just cannot follow most of the lectures. The lecture is mostly right from the book I could read for myself and the same people in my class asking stupid questions because they have not read the material. By the end of lecture I just want to jam my pencil in someones eye.

My program is really heavy in the computer programs and I really like them. They fit my brain perfectly. See it hear it and interact with it. The intructor that gave the lecture for acid base is like a giant Fraggle (1980s Jim Henson show) with her head wobbling around on her neck. I couldnt follow her at all as she was the distraction. But I spent about 3 hours on the computer program and I had it down easy for the test. When she did respiratory I did the same and smoked the exam.

I wouldnt worry about clinicals yet or the skills they will come. I know it seems if you are not doing a skill you really are not getting anything done. But really in 1st semester the most important skill you can get down is the assessment. I'm not sure how working as a CNA would really help you but I worked this semester as an Extern on a Medical unit and it helped. As an extern I have no trouble handling 3 patients so on clinical days having only 2 I was pretty well bored the whole day. Now I am in the ICU and the next year is gonna be great as an extern. I may not be the typical RN student as I have been at the hospital now for 10 years this Nov, 7 in EMS, 2 1/2 in the lab and the last semester as an extern.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

But see Scott, i think you are looking at nursing in to narrow a view. You are thinking skills, doing IV's, meds. But in nursing you are attempting to bring the patient to their "optimal" health. Not just helping overcome their present disease process at that moment. It's about knowing what to teach the patient and when. How to teach the patient to prevent future episodes of diverticulitis or reduce their sympoms of gallbladder disease until they can or have to have the darn thing out. Its about teaching the patient how to avoid DVT after surgery, avoid post op pneumonia, to keep their new hip from dislocating, prevent incisional infections.

So even though it appears that nursing is about the act of doing,, it is also and probly more importantly about the act of informing and teaching too.

You can learn how to keep things from coming to a halt on a hospital unit. Ya just call a code. But can you help prevent your patient from becoming a repeat patient. Thats when youve done the job. Nurses are actually teachers, not just doers.

[KRVRN, BSN, RN]

It's the "putting it all together" that you hear about that takes awhile to learn. You need the lectures for that.

The skills that you are practicing in lab (and hoping to practice at clinical) are only a small part of the whole picture. If nursing was merely doing those skills, well, maybe you could learn nursing OTJ in 3 mos. But there's so, so much more.

[grinnurse, RN]

I used to think similar in 1st semester about being in clinical for a short time too. I thought the hands on would be more ideal but when 2nd semester rolled around things really started to make sense but they wouldn't have had not it been for the lecture content. Our instructors always added lots more than what the book had to say though sometimes the lectures were straight from the book. I saw the reading as more of a reinforcemnt for the lecture. I do agree with the poster that at the end of lecture sometimes I would also like to stick pencils in some of my peers eyes from asking the same questions over and over and over and over etc.........

I found the lecture content important in so many ways once I really got out on the floor. I don't really think that I gained very much confidence from clinicals until just a few weeks ago when I began my preceptorship. Then you see how the lecture content has molded how you think and prioritize patients needs!!

It will all make more sense in future semesters and I think the externship will help alot!! Good luck