Whats the scoop on clinicals?

[vaileheart]

I am going to start classes here this coming spring and the part I am most nervous about is clinicals because I have absolutely no clue what to expect. I know that depending on what hospital I will be in and what floor etc... my experience will be different than the next, but I am wondering if anyone has anything to say about what to expect in general or things maybe they wish they had known before they went into their clinicals. I am a little nervous about going in and having no clue what I am "in for". Thanks in advance to all who reply!! :yelclap:

[jschut, BSN, RN]

LOL!

And how many of "those" drama queens have we run into since school?

[shoegalRN, RN]

No one passed out in any of my clinicals. I did almost pass out but it had nothing to do with clinical it was middle of summer no ac in the SNF and I was dehydrated so I started getting fuzzy and a classmate saw this and walked me to chair. I was fine after a tall glass of cold water.

We did have a girl during our 1st level that was a drama queen and made it known that the "place" smelled she would walk around snuffing a vick stick all day. And was it a funny site seeing her change a boo-boo pt....... I kinda wish she would have made it to level 3 when we had to give Go-lytle (sp*)....lol

We had 2 students past out last semester in the OR.

I don't know about that one. When I went to the OR, I was so excited I couldnt stand still. One student said she passed out watching an open heart surgery and the other student said she passed out when they had to draw blood from the patient prior to even getting to the OR.

[I'MIV]

Prior to going to Nursing School, I took a CNA Cert. program. In that program we did our clinicals in a Nursing home. I did this because I was concerned about if I could handle being a nurse...ya know, all of the sights and smells...I saw that it was not as bad as I thought that it would be. I knew that I could do just about anything that involved things that could possibly trigger an "upchuckus" response in me when I washed an elderly gentleman who I had just assisted to the restroom. He did not make it all of the way to the restroom but instead, he emptied his bowels while standing. It was green and had chunks of pus in it and it ran all the way down his legs. I had to clean him up. I wished I had some VICs that day but I was somehow ok with that and managed.The odor lingered with me for quite a while. In my clinicals this past semester, there was one student who was assisting with a bone marrow biopsy who nearly passed out. She asked if I could take over because she had to sneeze and she excused herself from the room. Later she told me what had really happened...she said that she started to see everything fade to black. I told her that she handled that situation so well that I did not even guess that she left because she was about to pass out. I don't have any advice on how not to pass out other than to just keep breathing and smile. I also keep a pocket full of peppermints or Halls drops on me at all times. Good luck and keep a positive attitude. I'miv

[aparsonsmomof3]

Thanks for all of the wonderful tips!! Offensive smells don't really bother me much...but knowing in advance that they may will sure make my clinicals easier. I had heard that putting a little Vic's Vapo Rub on the inside of your nostril helps also.

I was actually looking forward to cleaning up poo, but the pus chunck poo story did make me shiver a little bit!! :uhoh21: Oh no! What have I gotten myself into!

I would assume over time, you get accustomed to this part of nursing don't you?

[I'MIV]

I am still trying to decide which one smells the worst; iliostomy or colostomy bag cleaning/changing.:barf02:I'MIV

[akspudus]

I grew up hunting and fishing. I've been armpit deep in various animals field dressing them. I also served on ski patrol and served in the Coast Guard as an EMT. I thought I had seen enough blood and gore...and smelled enough stink to not have any problems in clinical. What I wasn't prepared for was seeing suffrage. That's what shook me up....not the smells or sights. Performing wound care on a hospice patient with PAD....her flesh literally rotting from her feet. Hospice patients don't get amputations. Decubitus ulcers of every stage....and on patients whose wounds will never heal because of other underlying conditions. The whole time...you are caring for a person that is in the end stages of that terminal disease we all have...LIFE.

Give me broken bones...surgery..things that are for the most part fixable. But dang....those patients that are just trying to get through the last days of their life with the most dignity with the least pain...those are the rough ones.

akspudus