Struggling in First Semester Clinicals!

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Firstly, I want to say how excited I am to be in nursing school. I've waited a long time to be here, and now that I'm here, it's harder than I thought! At the beginning of the semester, everything was going great: I did great on exams, was in class on time (timeliness is stressed for every single class) and felt confident about my skills. Then in March, once hospital clinicals started, I started having a hard time managing my time and came to clinicals 5 minutes late one day, and another day I was late almost an hour because I got lost and my GPS failed. I had to have a long talk with my clinical instructor about it, and I know that they are very disappointed in me, which in turn makes me disappointed in myself but since then, I've come to class early. Fast forward to today, I missed an assignment that was due almost a week ago! I had no excuse for my instructor, as I had actually finished the assignment long before it was due-it just slipped my mind WHEN it was due. My clinical instructor had yet another talk with me, and I understand her frustration but the whole talk left me feeling very discouraged as to why I'm even here if I miss simple things like assignments. I don't want this to sound like a pity party, because I KNOW that nursing is for me, I just really lose track of time and my organization skills are lacking! Any tips on how to handle this from here on out? Any organization/time management tips would be welcomed! Also, I am currently working two jobs to support myself and I'm getting a lot of pressure to work more than the bare minimum...

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Specializes in ED, Medicine, Case Management.

Get a planner and at the beginning of each term, WRITE everything down for every single day including your work schedule and your class schedule. Highlight tests in one color, assignments in a second color. LOOK at your calendar daily. Use the calendar on your phone and sync it up to your computer as well, and set reminders for assignments the day before they are due. Finally, if you have a clinical at a new site, go to the site the night/day before so you know where it is and are not late the next morning.

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Specializes in Psych.

I am not yet in nursing school but I have always been a planner person. A few months ago I invested in a very expensive Erin Condren planner. It is divided into morning, afternoon, and evening by day. I check it every day and use different colored pens for classes, assignments, tutoring, work, etc etc.

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In my home life, I'm terribly disorganized and messy but in nursing school, I don't mess around. You can't, otherwise you'll fall behind--kind of like what you're describing. Here's my tips:

1) Get/Make/Buy a calendar or planner that you actually LOOK AT EVERY DAY with ALL assignments on it and due dates. I like looking at a whole week at a time.

2) Make a checklist each week (I do mine Sundays) complete with everything school related that you have to do and again, write the due date. Check these off as you go, and add to your list as needed.

3) For clinicals: use good old fashion google maps and PRINT out your directions the night before. Don't *ever* count on electronics like GPS. Life lesson there.

4) To ensure you're on time, use staggered alarms on your clock/watch/phone. Use more than one if it's necessary.

5) Do *not* take on any more work. Learn to say no. If someone's not happy with your answer then that is not your problem. Only you know how much you are capable of.

I'm in my first semester, too and like I said, I'm *not* organized by nature. But I find a way to stay on top of my nursing game and I bet you'll be able to do the same. We just have to try harder at it. Good luck to you!

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

There's a template on Microsoft word for an academic calendar. I adjusted the number of columns to make it into a weekly planner that I can write my assignments in for each week and see everything that's due for any class all at once. Then I can cross it off when I have submitted it. If I have done the assignment but not turned it in it gets a checkmark next to it so that I know I still need to turn it in but that I don't have to keep working on it.

This also helps me prioritize what I need to work on. Seeing what's due first no matter which class it may be for helps me manage what to do next.

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Specializes in ICU.

Being a nurse is about time management and organizational skills which is what your program is trying to stress to you. Why do you just know nursing is for you? I find people have this romanticized idea of what nursing really is and don't know what the job actually is.

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Specializes in Lactation (IBCLC).

Program your due dates into the calendar on your phone, that way you'll get several email and ping reminders to turn things in.

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Thank you so much for the tips! I bought two wall calendars to hang on both my bedroom wall and my fridge (one's for work and the other for school) and I've put everything in my planner and my computer as well! There's no way this won't help! My clinical instructor has already commented on how much more organized I seem today and I'm definitely going to visit my clinical site beforehand!

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Being a nurse is about time management and organizational skills which is what your program is trying to stress to you. Why do you just know nursing is for you? I find people have this romanticized idea of what nursing really is and don't know what the job actually is.

Heathermaizey, I've known I wanted to be in the medical field since I was a young girl-I saw a lot of family members going in and out of the hospital setting, so I've seen good and not-so-good nurses. I feel like caring for people in a medical setting is what I'm supposed to do in life-sleep deprivation, vomit and poop cleaning included. Trust me, I have no fantasies about what it is that nurses do and organizational skills aside, I think I'm ready! :cat:

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Specializes in ICU.

I'm glad you are getting organized. I honestly could not function in my life without my 3 planners and 2 dry erase boards. I also make calendars every month especially for my ex-husband so he know his duties with our son. It's a definite crazy life.

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Here's the truth! Ditch the second job, get a good day planner, practice your routes to clincals the day before. It sounds like your heart is in it but the rest of you is out to lunch. Good luck!

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