What is Your Nursing Program Doing for Next Semester?

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Specializes in Clinical Research.

I have two semesters left before I graduate from a BSN program (!). While I am SO excited, I worry about what lies ahead in regard to clinical hours.

If COVID wasn't a thing, the normal trajectory would be completing 45 clinical hours for my Community Health Nursing course this Summer and then completing 110 clinical hours for my Capstone in the fall.

This semester, my nursing program ended up pulling all nursing students from the clinicals they were completing. The program then provided a ton of opportunities to make up the remaining hours through simulation modules. Thankfully, I had just 3 clinical hours to go before I was pulled from the ICU, but others had up to 30+ hours to complete.

My program has remained silent on the plan for the upcoming semesters. I'm worried that they're going to say that if clinical hours cannot be completed as they should be, the student will have to drop that course until the following semester. This would of course push back my anticipated graduation date. I completely understand how and why this would happen, but it hasn't made the fear of disappointment go away.

What have you heard, if anything, from your nursing program? Are they developing contingency plans? If so, what are they? (perhaps my program is, but they haven't let us know about it)

I did note that the NCSBN issued a statement that they strongly encouraged hospitals to allow nursing students to complete their clinicals during this time.

Anxious to hear from you guys!

PS - I wasn't sure where to place this post, so if it's better suited for a different area, please move it!

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Specializes in LTC & Rehab Supervision.

Currently, we are doing clinicals online. I entered this semester as an LPN, so it's everyone's 2/4 semester, which for me it's 1/3. We have virtual sim online, and we've been doing (quite easy) case studies with our clinical group online. Summer semester is non nursing classes, but those will be online as well. Back in the fall semester I assume we will be back into class like normal, hopefully with normal clinicals.

I was one of the lucky groups who had my maternity and pedi rotations before the lockdown on COVID began. There were two groups who unfortunately the had geri/rehab rotations first, and didn't get to experience peri/maternity in real life.

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I feel like the next semester is going to be online or a better part of it. Clinicals might also be simulations done online which is hard to learn from but still useful! Hopefully COVID rates drop by then and hospitals will allow students to do clinicals

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My program is doing a mix of online sim and clinical placements wherever they can find them.

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