Just finished my clinical rotation for this class (med/surge). Had evals yesterday because we had a sub instructor tonight. Which, my usual CI was actually working at the hospital on the unit I was on!! Anyway, what has been your favorite part of nursing school?
First semester I loved class far more then I loved Clinical. I flew through with minimal effort, but I absolutely loathed clinicals where I was at. It was our nursing home rotation, I felt like I learned nothing, the staff was rude the aides were rude, it tore me up to see the condition our elderly are treated in. It was just miserable.
This semester I might not even pass my class and it's not even because I get knowledge questions wrong, I lost my focus very early on and got worst test grade of my life and I was never a 4.0 student to begin with. Anyway, that REALLY through me off my game. My husband is out of town so it's just my 4 kids and I and I have no family or friends locally so it was rough but more so, I have hardly got the sleep I used to get first semester. Not because of school but I always have a harder time sleeping when my husband is gone.(he works in Cali from after Thanksgiving until May with only a few visits, we try once per month) So I went from forcing myself to get 8-9 hours of sleep a night last semester, to maybe 3-4 a night this semester. I have pulled two all nighters the night before my exams, the others I got maybe 2 hours. So anyway I know that was 90% of my problem with my class because my exams were dumb mistakes, ones that sleep deprivation could certainly cause. Now I am paying for it and have my final monday with a very narrow margin to pass, but not throwing in the towel yet.
Anyway, the only part that I don't mind if I have to retake the class is clinicals. I have LOVED clinicals this semester, I have learned SOO MUCH. Tonight besides pulling meds from Pyxsis and pushing meds, (we aren't allowed to do that yet or central lines, we won't even have our own Pyxsis ID because of some incident a few years back and we always have to have a nurse or instructor present to give meds as long as we are students) anyway, so besides those things, I took care of all my pt needs all night, I planned out my care for them, did everything, did the meds to but had to find someone to assist, my co nurse was a float nurse that got a really difficult post op, so I barely saw her the whole night, but I knew the patients couldn't go uncared for and although I spent most of the clnical weeks always WITH a co nurse, I just took charge and took care of my patients. Anyway, I get awesome reviews from the nurses and my CI for clinicals, the nurses would be a better judge, with us all so spread out on the different floors we rarely see our CI unless we page her. She is usually trying to get to see us all briefly in the night so not anything bad on her. She was so awesome we all got her gift and are sad to not have any more. (well I will get her again if I have to retake the class LOL )
Anyway, I am trying to wind down for the night so hopefully this made sense, I didn't get home until almost midnight. But what do you like most,
Do you feel at the top of your game in class but not clinicals, is it pretty even, or do you feel right at home in clinicals and try to get through class?
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Thanks for the input. I have gotten to do a lot during my clinicals so I am sure that helps. I have no previous Aide experience. They didn't start doing requiring that until I was already on the waitlist so it didn't apply to me. A lot of the nurses (not all) do a lot of the "aide" type work at the hospital I am at and we are always staffed pretty good with aides. Some nurses will go out of their way to call the aide, but most of the time when I am in with the nurse, she is the one doing the outputs, getting the fresh ice water, warm blanket, helping to the bathroom.
Last semester clinical was OK. For a while. Then it just got to be too much. We were 1st semester students placed on an oncology unit. There were a couple of deaths, some clients that we all worked with and got attached to etc, etc. Kind of a lot to absorb. I learned SO MUCH there- but it wasn't my favorite.
This semester, I just don't know. We have 2 teachers, 1 is OB and 1 is Peds- and I enjoy both of their lectures. I really liked OB rotation (though I was over postpartum in 1 day- and I had it 2 days ) NICU was neat and I liked my rotation in L&D.
On Monday we start Peds, and there's a whole bunch of different things we get to do. And I guess that's what I like the most- the different settings. Last semester it was mostly seeing the same things over, and over, and over again.
Last semester, I HATED clinical. I really disliked the hospital and my CI. I had a very degrading and horrible CI. We were belittled the entire semester and could never ask her questions with her going off on us. It wasn't a good experience. Honestly, class was a complete waste of time and money. I'd have to choose class over clinical.
This semester, I like clinical a LOT better. My CI is awesome. She's super helpful and wants us to ask questions if we don't understand something. We're at a different hospital, which I love. Class has gotten a bit better but it's still a waste of time most days. This semester goes to clinical. :)
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Last semester clinical was OK. For a while. Then it just got to be too much. We were 1st semester students placed on an oncology unit. There were a couple of deaths, some clients that we all worked with and got attached to etc, etc. Kind of a lot to absorb. I learned SO MUCH there- but it wasn't my favorite.
This semester, I just don't know. We have 2 teachers, 1 is OB and 1 is Peds- and I enjoy both of their lectures. I really liked OB rotation (though I was over postpartum in 1 day- and I had it 2 days ) NICU was neat and I liked my rotation in L&D.
On Monday we start Peds, and there's a whole bunch of different things we get to do. And I guess that's what I like the most- the different settings. Last semester it was mostly seeing the same things over, and over, and over again.
Cheryl
WOW I am surprised you guys were placed on Oncology first clinical rotation. I had a Pt. transfer to Oncology and was supposed to be having surgery, I was allowed to go with her so I could watch, but I stayed with her from the CT scan where she went to Onco from Med/Surge until we knew what route the doc was going to take as far as the next step. Anyway, very different environment. Their weren't only cancer patients there. One guy was young man in for sickle cell anemia like an accute exacerbation. Our first semester was out the nursing home, second is split in 2. First half of the semester our are Med/Surge clinicals, where you go to normally 2 different units, First rotation we had Ortho/Medical/Tele I was on Medical unit for 3 weeks. Second rotation we had Med/Surge-Surgical or Neuro and I was Med/Surge for 2 weeks but then we lost someone and our instructor who works on Surgical allowed me and the other student go to Surgical to if we wanted so I spent my third week on Surgical.
Now that's done and for the second half of Second semester we do Peds/OB We will have 3 days on Peds, 3 days on L&D (which I look forward too) and 1 day respite care.
3rd semester is Mental Health first semester and I think 5-7 days there. Then Advanced med/surge and not sure what units we will be on or same as the one I just finished. We also have our Focused 3 day clinical where we pick where we want to go.
It does depend some on the class and the instructor. I have a great med surg instructor again this semester, and a great CI, so I'm happy all the time there. My peds instructor is a hot mess, but I love my peds CI. Last semester I had a scattered, unprofessional CI for OB, so the clinical I was looking forward too, was only fun if she wasn't near me.
In general, clinical is wayyy better than lecture, but clinical can be hit or miss. Pts. can be luck of the draw, so either you are busy all day, or bored all day, and begging nurses and classmates for some way to help them, so you maximize your clinical experience.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I have always preferred sitting in the classroom, so I definitely prefer theory over clinical rotations. If I had the choice between reading and doing hands-on tasks, I'd rather read.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Class! I hated clinicals!
What did you hate about them? Question more for anyone that hated clinicals but didn't say why. I am just curious (I totally get we are all different, I preferred class first semester, hands down!) Was it actual clinicals or was more co staff or instructors??
Thanks for sharing everyone, it's been interesting to read and I don't recall seeing this topic at least the few years I have been here.
It seems to really depend on the unit I am on, the CI the instructor, etc.
Med/Surg I- Clinical hands down! I had a really amazing CI and the unit I was working on taught me so much about basic nursing care. My lecture instructor, on the other hand, was a moron that read verbatim off of her power point slides and couldn't answer even basic questions.
OB- Loved them both, had great instructors and a great unit. I would have to say clinical was my favorite because I got to learn so much and see so much in a specialty that I am passionate about.
Peds- All around terrible. Class was better than clinical, but that is not saying much. We had a different lecturer for every topic. They were all experts in their field, but it seemed like most of the time they presented us with how amazing their work is and not anything about actually nursing children! During clinical I was on the most cliquish, unfriendly floor I have ever seen. My instructor was a grumpy b***h who resented me because I was pregnant and she had just had a miscarriage. She pretty much sat at the nurses station and gossiped with her friends all day.
Mental health- Loved the theory and the classwork, but I hated clinical. I am not comfortable with this population at all (my deficit, not the clinical's). My CI was instructor was great, though.
Med/Surg II- Loved both of my instructors and the classwork, but the floor I was on was really boring and did not expose me to anything new. There are only so many times you can take care of patients with pancreatitis, n/v or EtOH WD without getting bored.
Public Health- I like the classwork okay, but clinical is ridiculous. I sit on my butt and watch a school nurse type all day for the most part. When we are not doing that we are sitting in meetings all day. I am bored out of my mind and can't wait for it to end.
Sorry to go on and on, but it really just depends on a lot of variables!
I think it really depends on your instructors. I am in my second semester of an Associate's. My first semester, the main instructor was horrible. She would talk down to the students during clinicals (me included) and this led to me not wanting to ask ANY questions during clinicals or even in the lecture for that matter. This is NOT GOOD because how else are you supposed to learn? That was my first semester and everyone's a newbie to Nursing practically. There were questions I would want to ask but didn't want to ask for fear of being felt like I was stupid. Despite this however, this instructor is an excellent nurse. If I were in the hospital, I would be delighted to have her as a nurse; she just is not a great instructor. I had major anxiety attacks going to clinicals when she was my instructor during certain weeks. So in last semester's case, I liked the classes better even though most of it was kind of boring because the powerpoints weren't too great.
This semester however, I have an EXCELLENT instructor. She is extremely knowledgeable but definitely is very strict with everything (I'm not saying that's a bad thing). Loved the powerpoints and was actually extremely interested in everything that was being taught...she just had a great way of teaching. Clinicals were great in the fact that they were all hands-on and she would push us to learn new things that we weren't learning in the classroom yet. Very helpful during clinicals but fast paced and did not talk down to any of us. Honestly I'm still a little traumatized from last semester about not wanting to ask questions for fear of being talked down to but I'm working on that. It definitely didn't help that I didn't have great self confidence last semester and having that instructor made it even worse...any suggestions how to boost that up?
All in all, in my current semester both class and clinicals have their pros and cons. Clinicals are excellent for hands on and you do learn more because of that. A bit anxious for me still because it is clinicals but I've been lucky to have patients so far that I've gotten along great with!
I'd have to say clinical. I am a "book learner" type of person, so having to do technical tasks is really a challenege to me, and I feel like (I hope) I am rising to the occasion. I only finished my second clinical weekend (we have six) in NS EVER so you might have to get back to me on this LOL! This weekend was definitely VERY challenging-had 2 dementia pts admitted to the hospital for other reasons that were basically total care. And one of them was combative. By myself it def took a LONG time to get all their ADL's done, etc. And I'm finding it VERY hard when something happens with a pt that is negative, or that I don't feel is fair for the pt. I think I am taking it way too hard. I have def gotten the full spectrum of what the elderly can be like though. My first weekend I had an adoreable 94 y/o woman, totally independant, able to assist with ADL's and was just a Chatty Kathy! I got her whole life story and she was such a sweetie! I wanted to put her in my purse and take her home with me LOL! And our CI is so amazing and supportive. So clinical, I like clinical the best.
Specializes in SNU/SNF/MedSurg, SPCU Ortho/Neuro/Spine.
yep... I would take clinicals over class at any time, yesterday I pulled my last preceptorship shift, and finished all my clinicals for nursing school, so I am done... I cant believe how fast it all went...
lets see:
16 shifts on skilled nursing unit
16 shifts on a multi system PCU
4 shifts on L&D
4 shifts on NICU
4 shifts on mother baby
14 shifts on pediatrics
5 shifts on mental health
16 shifts on a multi system PCU
8 shifts on a surgical PCU
1 shift at the hospice
8 shifts for practicum
total 96 days of clinicals for the last 14 months... I loved every single one of them
) NICU was neat and I liked my rotation in L&D. 
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~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
Thanks for the input. I have gotten to do a lot during my clinicals so I am sure that helps. I have no previous Aide experience. They didn't start doing requiring that until I was already on the waitlist so it didn't apply to me. A lot of the nurses (not all) do a lot of the "aide" type work at the hospital I am at and we are always staffed pretty good with aides. Some nurses will go out of their way to call the aide, but most of the time when I am in with the nurse, she is the one doing the outputs, getting the fresh ice water, warm blanket, helping to the bathroom.