TCC clinicals question

JaxiaKiley · Dec 9, 2008

I went to a different school ... However, talking to students in all school, most teachers want you to go up and pick your patient the day before. Some, even at the same school, require different paperwork completed. At least for the first week or two of clinicals, I wouldn't plan to work at all the day before to make sure you have enough time to get everything done. The nice part is that once you get the hang of it, you might be able to go up late at night and complete the paperwork before you go in the next day since your clinicals start at 1p.

Best of luck!

Heloisea3 · Dec 9, 2008

Corky,

You will go the afternoon or evening before to pick your patient. Most people try to do this between 1pm and 6 pm. If you go too early, you run the risk of your patient being discharged. You could also go after 8 pm, I guess. Shift change is at 7 pm, so the clinical instructors don't like for you to be there picking a patient around that time because the nurses are busy. It should take 30 min to an hour to get the info you need on your patient unless they have a hundred meds, ailments, etc. The first few times you go may take you a little longer until you become familiar with the charts and paperwork. Also, it takes a bit to do the care plan. You need to give yourself at least a few hours to do it. You will get faster as the semester goes along. I think I spent at least 2-4 hours on my careplans during my first semester, sometimes more, depending on the patient. I am a little anal about my paperwork, though. You have to look up every med, abnormal lab, diagnostic test, etc., so it can take a while. I know there were a few people in my clinical group who spent a lot less time than I did, but it was reflected in their grade. If you have an afternoon clinical, you can also go the morning of your clinicals and get a patient and get your paperwork done before 1pm. I didn't like doing that, but I know quite a few people who did, and they did fine. So, if your professor lets you do that, it is an option.

Do you know which professor you will have for clinicals and which hospital you will be at? If you do not like the aftenoon clinical and would prefer mornings, maybe someone would switch with you. Some people would much rather have afternoon clinicals. That might make it easier for you to work. I would be careful which clinical instructor I traded for, though. There are a few nut job clinical instructors that make life difficult for first semester students. Maybe you can find a job with really flexible hours.

I hope you enjoy your semester and that everything falls into place for you. Things will be a little less confusing after the first 5-6 weeks of school.....well, kind of... :no: . hahaha You are gonna do great, though!!! :wink2:

Bea1128 · Dec 9, 2008

Heloisea - Thanks for the info again. It was really helpful. I don't work, but was wondering about picking patients etc as well. I'm doing my clinicals at Plaza and the TSNA student who was showing us around hadn't heard of my clincial instructor. He thought maybe he/she was new.

I have another question that I forgot to ask at the orientation. I don't have long hair, but it's not super short either. It's not long enough in the back to pull into a ponytail or anything. Do I just need to keep it out of my face or do I have to try to pull it up in back too? I don't think the back will touch the collar of my scrub shirt, but it might touch the collar of my lab jacket. The sides are probably chin length and the back is probably an inch or two below my earlobe. They made such a big deal about the uniform, now I'm stressed about everything being just right. :) Thanks for the help.

Heloisea3 · Dec 10, 2008

Bea,

You will just need to keep the hair out of your face if it is not long enough to put up. So, just keep it away from your face and out of your eyes. If you don't have long bangs then you probably won't have to do anything different to it at all. Don't stress too much over the uniform. I'm sure yours will be fine as long as you're wearing the colors they said to wear and you're not exposing anything. Also, if you wear a t-shirt under your scrub top, make sure that it is white and doesn't have writing or images on it.

When you pick patients, you will just go to the hospital before clinicals and find a patient to take care of the next day. You will write down a lot of information about them such as which meds they take, their labs and diagnostic tests, what they are in the hospital for, their medical history, etc.. Then you will write a care plan based on the information you gathered. You will have to look up information about the meds, labs, and problems that the patient is having. There is also additional paperwork to do while you are at clinicals. Don't worry. They will tell you how to do it and what they expect when school starts. It is a lot of paperwork.

I had clinicals at Plaza for my first semester. I really liked it a lot. Of course, I guess a lot would depend on which floors you are on, but I though the nurses were so nice at Plaza. You may have the same clinical instructor that I had. If you PM me, I'll let you know. Most of the professors tend to do clinicals at the same hospital each semester. Anyway, I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, just ask. :wink2:

Corkybabe12 · Dec 10, 2008

Thanks again for the info Heloisa! That really helps give me an idea as to where I stand in terms of scheduling work. My boss is great and so is the pay, plus he is willing to work with me :) I don't necessarily want to change though, bc as silly as it sounds I'm already comfortable with the girls in my group and I do not want to disrupt the harmony there :cool:

We are actually at North Hills with Barnett- could you PM me if you have anything interesting to say about her? Anything we should watch out for? we were told by our tour guides that she is actually quite tough... I'm scared!

Groobie1 · Dec 10, 2008

You may want to also let your work know you may need a couple of extra hours a week occasionally to work in the lab for checkoffs in Skills. You won't need to all the time but generally a week before any checkoffs will help you.