omg I hate clinicals!!!!

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Ok this is my 2nd first round of clinicals long story, but realizing again that i hate clinicals. Did anyone feel this way and if so what did u do? My ultimate goal is to be neonatal nurse practioner, but if i can get pass rn clinicals hmmm its kinda scary. the other regular nurses at the hospital and staff dont really help that much they think you know stuff and i just feel like a complete fool . :o and besides that i work full time and go to school so i am exhausted after clinicals. :madface: any advice

THe paperwork can kill ya. I made a conscious decision to change my attitude about clinicals after the first round in LTC when we first started nursing school. I felt like an idiot, I didn't have a clear understanding of what we were allowed to do and what we should already know how to do. I practiced my skills and assessments ALL THE TIME. So that I could be more comfortable and everytime I caught myself groaning at the thought of clinical, I stopped myself and immediately told myself how much I loved clinical and thought of 3 good things about it. It worked for me and now, I really enjoy clinical (with the exception of the 4:30 am wake up process). It gets better as you become more "competent" and start to understand what is really going on with your patients. Try to hang in there.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

I don't hate clinicals.. what I hate is I have them at night (part time evening program) and most of the time there is nothing to do. We can't do our paperwork while we're on the floor either. I hate not having anything to do. Although last night was cool.. I got to see an epidural being administered... and I actually got to insert a Foley.. and the icing on the cake was watching a delivery....

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What it is it you dislike about clinicals? It sounds like you are stretched thin and just plain exhausted. Have you ever noticed how your perspective of things can change after a good nights sleep? I'd say try to get some rest and take care of yourself and see if that helps, then decide if nursing is a right fit for you.

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Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.
I don't work-but I do hate clinicals! My instructor should've been a warden at a prison. It is not the patient care or the work-its the attitudes of the instructors. Are you hearing this: "but you only have 2 or 3 patients! What are you going to do when you have 6 or 7?" Ok-well-when I am finally an RN-I will not have to research my patients the night before and complete a 20-page prep-tool on each of them-in 3 hours! I will not have to wait for an instructor for 30 minutes (or longer) before i give meds....I will not have to explain mechanism of action for 30 meds just before giving them (not talking about what the drug is-what its for-action-or side effects), and I will not have to wonder where I am going to get my money to pay for daycare for all of the extra crap the school makes us do above and beyond what we are signed up for...UGH! I feel ur pain, girl! May can not come soon enough!!! Good Luck and hang in there!

Exactly. Especially the part about some of the instructors. The instructors are what I hate about clinical. They are control freaks. I have an OB clinical right now with our director of the nursing program. She is so stressed out all of the time. I just keep telling myself that i have six more clinical days with her and I will be done. She expects perfection. She wants our paperwork to be at the senior level but in clinical we are micromanaged like two year olds. It is so incredibly stressful.

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I can't blame the instructors for micro-managing us because at the end of the day if we screw up it's their license. Remember people we are working under someone else's license because we don't have one yet.

If I ever get to the level of instructor I will be just as annoying because no student will ever make me lose the license I am suffering to get.

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I can't stand clinicals either. The patient care doesn't bother me too much. It's the passing out food trays, answering call lights to listen to a patient tell me something really stupid, and stuff like that. But the thing I really hate most is the gosh darned process papers we have to do. They infuriate me. I mean, are nurses so stupid they need a book to look up some nursing diagnosis that tells them that pain may be related to a surgical incision? I mean really....they are smarter than that. And I don't need some nursing school telling me that these papers will make me a better nurse. It will not make me a better nurse to do these stupid papers. There is so much busy-work associated with this nursing stuff that it drives me mad. I spend so many hours a week doing stupid stuff like that that I find it difficult to study so I can learn the important stuff. That being said, I will jump through all the hoops I have to to become a very competent and caring nurse, so that I can reach my ultimate goal of becoming an excellent crna. But in the meantime, I will suck it all up, play their little 3rd grade games, do all the useless busy work, and try and make the best of it. Ok...how many times did I actually use the word "stupid" while venting (hehe) :uhoh21:

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I am only half way through my nursing program, and clinicals are definitely not my favorite part or NS. I think it's the constant nerves and endless paperwork that does it for me. I'm guessing that once we're out in the real world and know what we're doing, it will get better. Not to mention that when we're RNs we won't have our clinical instructors breathing down our necks at every moment of every day. Good luck!

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I don't hate clinicals.. what I hate is I have them at night (part time evening program) and most of the time there is nothing to do. We can't do our paperwork while we're on the floor either. I hate not having anything to do. Although last night was cool.. I got to see an epidural being administered... and I actually got to insert a Foley.. and the icing on the cake was watching a delivery....

I HATE being bored as well. THe time just ticks by at the pace of a snail.

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

i HATED all med/surg clinicals. with a PASSION. However, i had my last semester of clinicals in a NICU and it was AMAZING. i, too, hope to be an NNP someday. stick it out because there is life after clinicals and it doesn't suck near as much!

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Specializes in Med-Tele, Internal Med PCU.

Before I left L&D rotation, I got this advice. "It's your education, take ownership of it. Ask questions, but don't expect to be given the answer, expect to be handed a book."

We've been pretty fortunate, the RNs on the various floors have been ready and willing participants in our education with 1 exception, she was a bit off anyway. Now the instructors on the other hand, they tend to make it tough but do you blame them? We have a 10:1 student:instructor ratio on in clinical. I would be a mess if I had 10 students threatening my livelihood (license). There is a trust factor between the student and the instructor that must be established, how else can that be done if we aren't quizzed and questioned at every turn?

I went to another floor where other students were doing clinical for another school. They were just hanging out, kicked back at the nurses station with the instructor, joking, talking about the weekend. We came back about an hour and a half later and they were still there! The wound care nurse I was working with was livid, and I got an ear full, not directed at me but that program. It's those students who make it hard for the rest of us.

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I mean, are nurses so stupid they need a book to look up some nursing diagnosis that tells them that pain may be related to a surgical incision? I mean really.... :uhoh21:

LOL :lol2:

:trout:

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Specializes in Emergency.

I agree with Kevin. Clinicals are what you make of them. There's always something to learn.

I've noticed over the past 3 semesters that the CIs tend to hone in on students that are, well, unsafe or even appear to have the serious potential to be unsafe. Subjective? You bet. But you know who they are. And yeah, they need to be watched and given more attention.

To me the point of clinical is the get you to learn how to critically think on your feet, act safely and get the very basics in hand (i.e., basic assessment, med admin, IV maintenance, knowing when to get help (see basic assessment), documentation, giving report, planning care & interventions (oh yeah, care maps) and team work).

Speaking of care maps, when I did an externship over the summer, guess who got to write up the care plans on admits? Yup. And with all the practice I had from clinicals, it was fast and easy.

To those who "hate" clinicals, how would you propose learning the hands on skills?

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