Student Clinicals in Ontario

Fiona59 · Aug 12, 2008

The clinical groups that come to hospitals in Alberta don't do 12 hour shifts. Twelves are only done on final clincal placements and you work the same shifts as your preceptor.

Usually students hit the floor for day shifts 7-15 hours. They start of slow and you do total patient care. Meds aren't passed until you get individually signed off by your instructor and even then you will be watched like a hawk by the staff nurses who actually hold the responsibility for the patient. Your dressing changes, etc, must be monitored by the instructor before you are "passed" on the skill and allowed independence on the floor.

You will watch your patients nurse perform admissions and discharges and if the nurse feels confident in you they will let you participate.

With each clinical you get more independence in your care.

But having said that, there are patients who will leave instructions at the nursing station that they will not accept care from student nurses.

And to tell you the truth, there are floor nurses who no longer want to preceptor the seemingly endless line of students that are hitting the units.

Depending on how many nursing programmes are competing for space in your local hospitals you will do the 15-23 evening shift as well. Nights are only done of the final placements.

linzz · Aug 12, 2008

The poster above hit the nail on the head. It is the same here in Ontario. No night shifts until last semester depending on where you are doing your clinical time. You will find some nurses will not want anything to do with students and it won't take long to figure out which ones.

Just be prepared for clinical, be willing to jump in and do things like dressing changes, injections etc.

Fiona59 · Aug 12, 2008

Oh, and before I forget, this one got discussed the other day at work.

If the staff nurses ask who want's to put insert/pull a foley, don't say "I've already done one". We just shake our heads. Practice makes perfect (well in theory). Just as reloading the blanket warmer is technically the service aides job, but if it's empty the floor nurses stick the flannels in, students can to.

Clinicals are a learning time for you and most of us are happy to share what we do know.

But just remember we don't sit in the back room while you do our work. We have to assess the patients we are assigned to, check that the dressings have been changed, review your charting, have chats with your instructors and our unit managers over your performance. It can be exhausting to the floor nurses when there are students. And then there are the nurses who are preceptoring final placement students while there are student groups on the floor.

MellaBella · Aug 13, 2008

Hi

I'm currently in the Collaborative Program at Ryerson. In first year, we didn't get to do clinicals until 2nd semester and it was 3 days.. focus was on long term care this year so we were in a nursing home providing basic care (bed bath, lifting, positioning, moving, oral care, feeding), as well as practicing interviewing skills. Second year was where we really got into it.. focus was on acute care. I was on a med-surg floor and we got to do meds (including injections and hanging IVs), dressings changes, basic care, inserting/discontinuing foley, inserting NG tube, assessments and other great stuff.... We did 7 hour shifts 2 days a week mornings 7-3 (with break).. 3rd years focus was on community health so we focused more on teaching and preventive health.. This year was more independent, we didn't have an instructor with us guiding us on what to do. We had a preceptor who sometimes was not in the nursing profession (mine was a teacher in a school) that you'd work with to develop a plan for what you wanted to implement at your placement. This year was more about learning the broader aspects of nursing and most people loved community! Fourth year is in the hospital on our own (no instructor) with a preceptor who we shadow for their shifts (if they work nights, we work nights).. I'm guessing (but not sure).. that in 4th year we can do everything including accuchek and IV starts..

Hope that helps! and congrats on starting starting your journey through nursing!:heartbeat

Jaguar Boy · Aug 13, 2008

Thanks everyone...it's good to get a sense of what life will be like in a few months. I'm really looking forward to school and clinicals...this is a big life shift for me and it's going to be great!