I go to CSULB and our ratio is 1:10/11, which i think is too much!
I finished the first semester and barely got see my instructor.
she was only with me 3 times.
first time for passing the med.
second time to go over my careplan with me.
third time because i have a patient almost coded.
other than that, i only see her in the morning for 5 min, and next sec shes gone, either with other student or just can't find her!
I got an A in clinical and her final evaluation comment was pretty much based on that third time she was with me,
because there aren't other things she can say, she wasn't even there with me!
According to other two clinical group, their clinical wasn't much either, its hard to see their instructor too.
first semester was easy but i hated the clinical because I feel insecure.
they expected the nurses to teach you, but its not always the case!!
the RN are usually busy over their own patient! and they sometimes make us feel stupid for not knowing the basic thing. I didn't get to do complete bed bath at all (I did ask, and offer my help many times to the CNA), made bed once, mostly just did V/S and pass. I didn't watch any procedures, not even see a foley or NG tube. They showed us once in the sim. lab and gave us half hour for practice. and expect us to know it. While many of us never got to practice again after that sim.lab day or even seen one.
I feel embarassed when the CNA/RN on the floor ask "you don't know?" or "they didn't teach you this??"
I don't know if I should change a program, I am sorry to say, since many people think CSULB is a very good school.
but I think they are disorganized, and way overrated. Student doesn't get to pick their own class schedule and clinical site. which would be inconvenient if you need a job since you don't get to arrange your time.
I think they have a good reputation because u need a high GPA/TEAS test to get in. and i'm NOT the only student who feels this way.
how is your clinical like for you? what is the instructor/student ratio?
and actually, how is the clinical suppose to be like?
is it suppose to be like this? hard to reach ur instructor and rely on the RN on the floor?
I want to switch to Mt. Sac's nursing program.. but they only offer ADN not BSN.
my friends and family tell me its not a good idea, since BSN is still better.
but I am scared I'll graduate knowing nothing and lack of clinical skills because of the program.
Honey, where I am at we have been trying to get the ratios reduced, but the schools fight us. Also, from my experience, the BSN is really not that much more than the ADN. ADN will give you better clinicals. The pay is the same on the floor. Get the ADN, get in a facility that gives tuition reimbursement, then take an RN-BSN bridge online. As for the NG tubes, good luck finding one. I don't see that many where I am at. Someone else may see them all the time. Some experiences really are luck of the draw and depend on what type of patient is on the floor. I know for years I had major difficulty finding enough IM's for my students. Forget trans-dermals. We lucked out this year because we had a number of patients wanting their pneumonia vaccines and the nursing home we were in had a plethora of TB tests due.
Haven't been to clinical quite yet so can't say how it will be, but our ratio is going to be 1:10. However, one of our groups will be 1:9 and the group I am in will be 1:11.
I'm in an ADN program and our ratios are generally 1:8/10 depending on how many people drop out or fail. This is for all of the clinical sections from acute care, OB, to the first quarter. I haven't had any problem with this nor have I heard any complaints from anyone else either.
Unless there's a specific program in your area that has clear and consistent strong clinical opportunities, has a strong reputation for graduating confident, clinically-strong new grads, and/or perhaps is directly affiliated with a hospital that really promotes intensive student nurse clinical experience, most times, the quality of the clinical experience may simply depend on your clinical instructor's style and the assigned unit (nurse workload, morale, etc). There also may be limited clinical space in one's community for students which can lead to nursing staff getting burned out on constantly having students from various programs at various levels of competency with various instructors. As others have noted, the grass may not be greener.
And it's also so difficult to get into many programs these days (strong competition for just a few spaces, waiting lists, lotteries, varied pre-req coursework), that getting accepted to another program can mean starting from scratch again. Each program also has it's own structuring of the nursing curriculum and a very limited number of seats, so it's very rare for anyone to simply transfer from one program to another. Dropping out on the hope that one will be accepted to a different program might not be a good gamble.
What to do to help build your experience if the school and clinical experiences continue to leave you hanging...?
... try to get a CNA/PCA job in an acute care setting; the added, extended exposure to various patients can boost confidence in many ways; some facilities will even train up assistants in various skills (ECG, phlebotomy); if there are any student nurse opportunities out there that allow greater clinical opportunities, jump on them and try to get in
... try to get a unit secretary job in a hospital; while not hands-on clinical work, it's a valuable opportunity to learn about the other side if nursing... taking off new orders (& get even more familiar with common meds, treatments); fielding calls from families & physicians; interacting with pharmacy, dietary, etc.
... volunteer in a clinical area; tell the staff that you're a nursing student and eager to learn; some might make a point to bring you along to observe procedures or explain their actions and choices; not all staff will be helpful, but some might and you won't know til you ask
... ask any nurse friends (or friends of friends) about shadowing them; depending on their style and your style you might learn more than you think you could just by tagging along, especially as you get further along in your program; some facilities don't allow it, but others do, so keep asking around even if you hear 'no.'
... if you click with a floor nurse you work with, ask if you can take them out to lunch or coffee sometime - as a newbie, having experienced nurse friends to call upon for support, advice, and reassurance can be worth a lot.
This semester, most instructors have 8 students.. my group has 7 because one girl dropped out. We aren't allowed to do meds yet, so as of right now (3rd week with patients) we do mostly vitals, bed baths, assisting with toileting, some bed making, and occasionally we get to travel with our patient if they are leaving the floor for some reason. First week I got to go down and see the CT scan my patient got. Second week I went to the nuclear stress test with my patient. Our teacher is also pulling us one at a time to teach us how to read the telemetry strips, and also to learn how to use the computers to look up labs. The rest of the time we fill out assessment forms and come up with care plans. Also we are expected to help each other out if it is a "slow day". Yesterday was one of those days, so we were all assisting each other
Has always been 1:8 for us with our first 2 semesters instructors being wonderful, always floating through the floor, offering help and additional teaching experiences. This semester she just sits in an office and finds the most minute problems in our charting, that really arent even an issue she just makes them one.
We have 10-11 students per instructor in my program (community college in California). It isn't ideal, but it works. It can be difficult to get time with the instructor when we want it, but every student generally gets time for a procedure or two with their instructor per shift. Some instructors handle it better than others.
nursesail
80 Posts
Honey, where I am at we have been trying to get the ratios reduced, but the schools fight us. Also, from my experience, the BSN is really not that much more than the ADN. ADN will give you better clinicals. The pay is the same on the floor. Get the ADN, get in a facility that gives tuition reimbursement, then take an RN-BSN bridge online. As for the NG tubes, good luck finding one. I don't see that many where I am at. Someone else may see them all the time. Some experiences really are luck of the draw and depend on what type of patient is on the floor. I know for years I had major difficulty finding enough IM's for my students. Forget trans-dermals. We lucked out this year because we had a number of patients wanting their pneumonia vaccines and the nursing home we were in had a plethora of TB tests due.