Preparing for clinicals

loriangel14, RN · Oct 12, 2013

I did none of that. I didn't know anything about my patient until I hit the floor in the morning. We did drug cards and had to come up with learning goals.We weren't allowed to go to the clinical site except for aour clinical days.

love67 · Oct 12, 2013

Well I was wondering what everyone else has to do because it is very exhausting to have class then come home and prepare for clinical the next morning and waking up at 4 two days in a row. it takes me hours to prepare for clinicals.

Blaquechinadoll · Oct 12, 2013

I have had different experiences based upon who my clinical instructor was. One had us go to the hospital the day before clinicals and look up the patient that was assisgned to us. We had to do medication sheets and a basic patho on their admitting/current diagnosis. All in hopes that the patient would still be there in the morning.

Other clnical instructor came in early and assigned patients to us, then throughout the day, if we had free time, we'd fill out paperwork, but had to turn it in the next day.

Either way, it was exhausting. That doesnt change. While I hated traveling to the hospital an additional day, I had time to better understand my patient, but hated when the patient was discharged, so it appeared that all my work was in vain. Plus I had to start all over with a newly assigned patient.

The other way meant that I had tons to do when I got home & still prepare for clinical, esp if I was very busy & did not have any down time.

schnookimz · Oct 12, 2013

Well I was wondering what everyone else has to do because it is very exhausting to have class then come home and prepare for clinical the next morning and waking up at 4 two days in a row. it takes me hours to prepare for clinicals.

What is taking so long? As you go farther into your program, you may find this takes you less time because you know more without needing to look it up.

love67 · Oct 13, 2013

What is taking so long? As you go farther into your program, you may find this takes you less time because you know more without needing to look it up.

Well I just started my program so maybe it will get easier as I go farther into my program but as of now, we have to pretty much research and teach ourselves because they haven't gone over in class the diseases / conditions, treatments and signs and symptoms. I also have home responsibilities that I have to do while trying to research.

kaydensmom01 · Oct 13, 2013

We did the same thing, and I found it invaluable. We went in the night before to gather all information about the patient: history, admitting diagnosis, code, physicians, previous assessments, previous vitals and weight, meds. We then would go home and do drug cards for all meds, create about a 10-12 pg care plan that night with all nursing diagnosis related to labs/tests/assessment and prioritize them. It took the entire night, and we didn't get much sleep before clinical. We would then go to clinical and would change our information/diagnosis based on our new information and the new care plan/meds/tests/lab values would be due the next day. It was hard work, but I don't see myself being able to relate all of the information like I can now without that preparation. When I did my preceptorship I had absolutely no difficulty transitioning from preparing the night before to just getting information on arrival because I felt that it actually prepared me so that I could process the information wholly.

Stephalump · Oct 13, 2013

I've never had to do pre-clinical work, but I know the stress and time consuming nature of the beast. We did our care plans post-clinical during my first year, and it took hours upon hours.

Know that it does get easier. Eventually you'll know the diseases, labs, diagnostics, and typical dxs like the back of your hand and it will go much quicker.

The material may be more difficult the further you get into nursing school, but the initial learning curve is so steep, I think overall everything ends up easier.

allycat77, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2013

Yep we have to do the same plus drug cards or use pre-made drug cards. Plus diet, i&o, catheter, iv sites, co-morbidities, past surgeries, etc. I am usually at the hospital an hour plus. Then when i get home i have to research the patho and list explanations for abnormal labs, and give all possible reasons, not just this person's BUN is high because of renal failure, we have to list the mechanism behind it. So i feel you when it comes to the pre-clinical work. I am 2nd semester bu the way. And yeah, we use all of this info to integrate into a care plan that is due the following week.

springchick1, ADN, RN · Oct 13, 2013

Our hospitals won't let us do pre-clinicals any more. They don't want students there without an instructor.

i♥words · Oct 13, 2013

My clinical set up is very similar to what you describe. Being new at this, it takes a long time. But I have been told it'll get easier as I gain more experience.

smf0903 · Oct 13, 2013

We do the same only we only have to come up with one nursing diagnosis (the priority dx) and also have to do med sheets for all regular meds administered while we are the and all of the PRN meds. It truly does get easier...I spent over 2 1/2 hours at the hospital the first night I pulled information. Now I am down to an hour, and I'll probably get it down even more by the end of the semester. We aren't allowed to use the pre-made drug cards, we have to write or type it all out. So I started typing mine, which is in turn creating a database for me. Some meds every patient has at least PRN (Colace, Reglan, MOM, etc) so these I can cut/paste, check the dosing, and it's cut down considerably the amount of time I spend doing my drug sheets. Hallelujia!! LOL On one hand, I hate doing the prep stuff but on the other hand I have learned SO MUCH from doing it. Good luck to you!