6 weeks into school we start clinicals! How on earth

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Is that safe:uhoh3:? I am cracking up that I will really be off and running so quickly! This is mighty exciting! Started my reading and I am ready to go! :nurse:

My program was 8 weeks, we do bedside care, pass meds...including injections....and when I pass my indwelling urine catheter check off on Tuesday.....I will be doing it on the floor by Thursday....between you and me...I have wondered about unleashing us o real patients to test things out...but we seem do do okay....somehow

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Well, it sure makes for exciting times at school! I am looking forward to digging right in and I know it will make the time fly with things so busy. Thanks for the great advice everyone!:)

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In my school, we go 9 months before we go to clinical. I start in September and I have already had both of my fundamentals classes, pharm, a&p1-2, and have learned all basic skills (foleys, iv's, injections, wound care, med pass, etc) and I feel much more confident than having to learn everything in a few weeks and not being able to do anything :) I'm so glad I get to do more than assessments..blah.

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We start clinical the 2nd week of the nursing program... YIKES!

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Nursing school is very fast paced. Our first semester the first couple weeks we were in the simulation lab testing off on specific skills that we would need in our first clinical rotation. Vital signs, bedmaking, standard precautions, head to toe assessments, and once we were tested off on those we could do them in the hospital setting. Our second semester was the same only more complicated tasks such as Foley Cath, O2 therapy, Enema, Med Administration. It gets more complicated as you go along, but you do feel more comfortable doing those. If we did not get a MET in the nursing simulation lab then we were not allowed to perform those things on our patients at the clinical site. I love nursing school and I have 1 week left this semester, then it's on to the 3rd semester for me. Yay! Keep your head up you can do it.

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think about it: They start you out doing the kinds of tasks that nurse aides do. And nurse aid is, in a lot of places, an apprenticeship type or on-the-job type training. So, to start clinicals even 2 weeks into nursing school is not a big deal. You assess safety, you get to look at pt's charts, you'll change bedding and do bed baths, help pt's get dressed or go from bed to chair, take an oral temp or take a BP using either a machine or a manual cuff + stethoscope. Depending on how available your instructor is, you might get to see or assist with a dressing change or something.

Look at it as a fast way to see if you find it shocking or disgusting. If so, you can quit early and go find another training program or major.

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We start clinical the 2nd week of the nursing program... YIKES!

us too!!

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We start clinicals the second week of every semester.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

At my program, we're supposed to start our clinicals about 5 weeks into the first semester. It's going to be a LOT of stuff to fill our brains with at first...

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My first clinical was on the second day of classes. Granted this was after a year of taking prereqs.

The first day we had a lab on therapeutic communication; and the next day at the hospital, we got orientated and talked to patients.

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.
In my school, we go 9 months before we go to clinical. I start in September and I have already had both of my fundamentals classes, pharm, a&p1-2, and have learned all basic skills (foleys, iv's, injections, wound care, med pass, etc) and I feel much more confident than having to learn everything in a few weeks and not being able to do anything :) I'm so glad I get to do more than assessments..blah.

My program is somewhat similar. We patho and a&p 1 and 2 before we start our nursing courses but once we start nursing school we still don't have clinicals until our 2nd term so I've had fund., assessment, pharm so we start clinicals our 2nd week and we get to do lot's of stuff too. It's scary a lil because our instructors have told us they expect you go in knowing this stuff.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

My school also does the same way...I was in such a hurry to order my uniform and nursing kits only to realize I won't need them until October (hell they are back order anyway because the supplies are not in bulk with the company)...I got a good deal though...my clinical will be in a nursing home and I have to be there at 8am - 12pm class doesn't start until 5...so I have to rest and even catch a few zzz's if necessary

Excited

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