Starting clinicals....

[CrunchyMama, ASN, RN]

At my school for the first 7 weeks, we don't have clinicals. We just are in the lab at school learning skills and whatnot. We get checked off every week for each skill(s) and then take a test at the end (you can take it once more if you fail) and then if you fail again, you're out of the program...yikes! Anyway, if you pass you move onto clinicals. Does anyone elses school do this or do you jump right into clinicals?

[NSALVADORE]

At my school the first 4 weeks we were in the lab a lot and we are tested on each skill after we learn it. We aren't exactly graded before we move onto clinicals but if we aren't performing a skill correctly they do make us come back to lab on our own time to learn it again from the lab teacher. Don't worry, the skills are very basic at the beginning, don't worry about failing... Best of luck in your first semester :)

[sh1901]

At my school, they throw us into clinicals right away. The first week we do some basic stuff in the lab, just patient transfer and bed making, stuff like that. The following week you've got a real patient. It's definitely intimidating, but after surviving the first semester, I felt much more confident - and that's (in my opinion) due to the fact that we were working with real people and not dummies in the lab all the time. We didn't really practice procedures on them or anything, we still did all of that in a separate lab session, but once we were signed off on a skill we could do it with the patient. It was really great to have that hands on work.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

That is exactly the way it was done at my community college program 35 years ago. We didn't have the fail business, however. My class was small enough that they would have assigned another student or one of the instructors to take a student who wasn't doing well and give them personalized attention until they got it right.

Our first clinicals were then in a nursing home (that is often still done as well). They placed us with the nicest, sweetest patients they could find.

I can't say that is what will happen for you, but I hope it will.

From my years of experience, this is what I would advise. . .since it is hard to really know what you are doing yet, just memorize the steps of the procedures and practice, practice, practice them. Imagine that you are like an actor on a stage getting ready to give a performance. If you have access to films or videos of the procedures, watch them first to get an idea of how they should be done and then copy what the people are doing. When you get a chance to actually do these procedures on real people what you are doing will make a lot more sense. It also helps to answer "why" you are doing some of the things in these procedures (the rationales) if you can find them or are supplied with them because the rationales help to make more sense of what you are doing. I found that some things didn't make sense until years later.

[CrunchyMama, ASN, RN]

Thanks everyone for your input and advice!

[KellRrn2b]

at my school we go into clinicals right away as well

[tokidoki7, ASN, RN]

At my school, they throw us into clinicals right away. The first week we do some basic stuff in the lab, just patient transfer and bed making, stuff like that. The following week you've got a real patient. It's definitely intimidating, but after surviving the first semester, I felt much more confident - and that's (in my opinion) due to the fact that we were working with real people and not dummies in the lab all the time. We didn't really practice procedures on them or anything, we still did all of that in a separate lab session, but once we were signed off on a skill we could do it with the patient. It was really great to have that hands on work.

I'm glad you mentioned this because I was wondering if I'd be going to clinicals my first week. I have clinicals on Wed., so I now know not to work a 12-hour shift the day before. Especially, if I might have tests or something the day after clinical.