My cohort is doing well. A couple of people are block remediating next week -- once they pass that test, they go into their clinical. Meanwhile, those who did not have to block remediate, are finishing up clinical this week, then go on break for 3 weeks (while the remediating group does their clinical).
I love my cohort, the people are awesome. I think we've got a good class vibe going on, really. We share notes, help each other out (some stay after class), post tips and tricks, etc. It's a team effort and everyone is pretty good at appreciating that. We all want each other to pass.
Sim labs: we've only done one sim lab so far... there's more coming up. They chose a handful of pairs to go into the room, with the professor speaking as the dummy. You treat it like you would a real hospital situation - identify your patient, assess, ensure safety, etc. - just do what you've been taught in class and what you practice in clinical. It's not too bad.... little nerve wracking because you know your friends are watching you outside and you get to watch a playback... but otherwise, it's fun. hahaha.
Clinical: We got our clinical locations 2 weeks before the rotation start date. 3 days out of the week, 12 hr shifts... some instructors might make you come in the day before your first day(of the week) to pick a patient to do your paperwork/care plan one. The length and what you get to do during clinical depends on what block you're in (3, 5, 8, 10, 11, etc.). I'm just about to complete Block 5's clinical, so I can only really speak for blocks 3 and 5 for now.
- Block 3: Fundamentals; at this point you've learned how to provide basic care and how to do a full head to toe assessment on a patient. You can also practice sterile technique (e.g. inserting urinary catheters, wound dressing changes). Since you can't hand out meds (b/c you haven't taken pharm yet), your days tend to consist of answering call lights, getting vital signs, and scoping out for any interesting wounds/procedures for you and your groupmates to witness. This is when you start to try and get comfortable in hospital/patient situations, plus you gotta do paperwork on your patient(s).
-Block 5.Adult Health 1; you've got your fundamentals down (assessment and basic care), but know you have also learned about more diseases and conditions, medications and how to administer them and chart them. At this point you can give oral medications and injections, no IV medications until block 10, BUT you can start IVs (that's as close as you're gonna get to flushing a line for now). Annnd you've got paperwork to do on your patient(s), hahaha.
