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Absolutely do NOT lie to the board of nursing. This can get you in much more trouble than something you did over 20 years ago when you were underage. I think your school should have told you on admission that a criminal background check was necessary prior to taking NCLEX. Most schools have background checks on admission to the nursing program. I ALWAYS tell students this upfront. Call the board of nursing and speak to them. They will not give you a definitve answer until you actually apply to sit for the boards, but I've seen them give students helpful direction in such situations.

Ask whether you are now on a wating list for spring or the following fall or if you need to reapply. Where I teach, if you don't get in for that semester, you need to reapply and join the large pool of applicants. Having been wait listed doesn't give you an priority the next semester.

You might find it helpful to ask a trusted peer to engage in peer evaluation of your instruction. After watching you teach, you should have a heart to heart constructive conversation about your teaching. Then have this peer look at your exam related to the content you just taught to give feedback. this will give you an objective evaluation of your methods.

Thanks for the student perspective! I've learned not to try to discuss anything too heavy after 6 hours of pt care, especially once the nice weather hits!!

Hi! I hope these ideas help. First, your conferences should be related to what the students are learning in lecture. For example, if lecture was on CHF, have a student present their pt with CHF. Draw some concepts maps on the board, have discussions, ask questions. I also make a list of things that happened during the day and ask those students to report. (If it's anything personal, I always ask the student for permission in private first). For example, with one student, it took 4 pills to make up the drug dose on the MAR. I told the student that multiple pills should raise red flags. Sure enough, we went back to the original order and the folate was ordered as 1 mg but was transcribed by the nurse (and not caught by pharmacy either) as 4 mg. I also get various nurses to speak with the students. The IV nurse bring PICCs, midlines, medports for the students to handle and ask questions. Since I'm on a neuro floor, I have the neuro CNS take them through a neuro assessment. Since I teach in leadership, I also have an LPN talk with them about working with an LPN from an LPNs point of view. Also, find a book of case studies and use them Most importantly, just ask students how their day went. What did they feel good about, what would they do differently. Does anyone have a learning experience to share...... sometimes, all you have to do is sit back from there and the conference leads itself!

Some comments that I have used for my average students: Student delivers safe, competent care (otherwise you wouldn't be passing them). Student comes to clinical prepared.... Asks questions when unsure.... Deomonstrates professional accountability.... Keeps RN and instructor informed of patient's progress. Uses basic therapeutic communication skills when interacting with pt and family. To me, if a student is passing, they should be deomonstrating many of the above traits. As far as the "know it all" student: Needs to support peers (if they put down peers), needs to works on team-building skills, needs to learn to accept constructive criticism (if you've tried correcting or helping them), needs to be open to new suggestions, needs to work on listening skills.... Then give specific examples, if you can. Hope these help. I have my own personal "templates" that I've developed over the years for hlep in writing evals on different types of students.

Some suggestions, go to Guidelines for Authors before you start your article. It gives lots of good advice. Then go ahead and write and submit the artilce. If they like the idea, they will work with you. "Upper-Tier" journals won't do this. In your cover letter, you might mention that you are a new writer. Also, try teaming up the first time with someone who's published before. I teamed up with one of my faculty for my first article and have been writing ever since!!

Thanks to those who support my point of view. Just to clarify one point. We are not given time off for working in a clinical setting to remain current. To do this, I would be working my already 40+ hour a week position, but then I would be working clinical too.

Our first day of clinical is not a patient care day. That relieves much student anxiety. Students come to the hospital in professional clothes and a lab coat. We meet in a class room and first go over hospital policies, fire safty, etc. I then go over my clinical expectations and how the day should go. We then tour the unit and meet with the clinical manager. I've used a scavenger hunt to help students locate key items, inlcuding where fire extiguishers and other safety equipment are located. I take a patient chart int the conference room and review charting with them, too. Of course, if you've never been to the hospital or unit you'll be on, you should contact the unit manager and meet with him or her and review your course objectives, expectations, and make arrangements to work with a nurse for a shift so that you are familiar with pt care at that facility.

I certainly stay "connected" to practice when I suprevise senior leadersip students caring for 3 to 4 patients a piece. I have 10 students in each clinical group. I work very closely with these students giving IV meds through many different types of access devices, starting IVs, doing treatments, performing assessments, and giving personal care. If I had to also have a practice I would quit. I make half of what a staff nurse makes. With the faculty shortage we are take on more and more responsibilities, teaching more classes, doing more clinicals, advising more students. In addition to my clinical group, I also teach a large professional issues class of 180 students. If they added mandatory practice, the stress level would not make the job worth it! I would have to quit for my sanity and health.

There is such a dire shortage of nursing faculty right now that if clinical practice was required, the shortage would be staggering. I teach at a major university and we accept only a fraction of our qualified candidates due to insufficient faculty.

Remind the nurses that they retain overall responsiblity for the patient even though there is a student. Some nurses hand their patients off to us and I try to explain that they are still responsible for the patient and need to stay intimately involved in his care and work closely with the student.

Thanks, llg. The syllabus states that the clinical portion of the course focuses on the leadership aspects of the team leader in the care of a group of patients. While the course content covers a much wider range of leadership, the definition of a leader in clinical is stated in the syllabus and discussed during orientation.

Sounds like I'm on the right track, but students still seem dissatisified with the leadership portion of the clinical. Many of them get very incensed when they find out that they can't delegate bed baths to aides and must do the baths themselves. First, baths are already assigned to aides before we get there. If a student is lucky, his/hers may have been done. Second, the staff feel that a student with only 2-4 patients should be able to handle baths, too. Somehow, the focus sometimes seems to be on a.m. care rather than leadership. Students also feel that they should be able to give meds independently since they are graduating. I feel that no matter what they've done previously, I need to evaluate their med admin and make my own judgements. I am very strict and safety conscious and many resent, for instance, that even on the third time in the room to give meds I still make them take the MAR in and check the ID band. I also have many alternate leadersip experiences, such as shadowing a clinical manager, case manager, interdisciplinary team member, staff development nurse.

Since we start clinical an hour after the unit change of shift, I give the students their assignments and they go to the staff to get report individually. Although they have their own assignments of 2 to 4 patients, they work in a team of 4 students, with one student as charge nurse. The charge nurse doesn't have an assignment. This student helps other students with decision-making, will help with care if needed, makes up lunch schedule, checks charts, calls pharmacy, etc. The RNs work closely with the students. I also assign students to "cover" for LPNs. Many believe that working with an LPN just entails giving their IV meds, so we work on teambuildin" and delegating. I also have them work on a report sheet that works for them so they can prioritize and manage care. I have them attend interdisciplinary rounds on their patients, too.