Clinical Duty of Student Nurses: What Does this Mean for Me?
Internships are a “rite of passage” for nearly all careers. But for nurses, internships are referred to as clinical experience. Clinical experience is a major component of nursing education where student nurses participate in supervised sessions in real healthcare facilities.
This means that for you to become a registered nurse (RN), you have to go through nursing clinicals, in addition to meeting other criteria. Clinical placement will give you the opportunity to observe other nurses, practice, and develop your nursing and problem-solving skills.
Importance of Clinical Experience
Nursing is a practice-based career, and clinical education is a vital part of the nursing curriculum. Some of the benefits of a clinical experience in a nursing career include:
Putting theory into practice
During your nursing training, you should acquire a wide range of theoretic knowledge including medical-surgical nursing, physiology, pharmacology, and parent and child nursing among others. Upon entering the practical part of the program, you should be able to marry the fundamental theories with hands-on experience. By practicing every aspect of patient care, you could be able to analyze patient finding and develop appropriate patient care plans.
Hone your communication skills
Effective communication is the foundation of a successful nursing career. To be able to help your patients to achieve optimal health you must first understand their needs. Some of the important interactions include reviewing patient histories, educating patients, and conducting exams.
Familiarize yourself with administrative procedures
Preparing yourself for a nursing career also involves familiarizing yourself with basic hospital protocols. Apart from applying nursing theories and honing your skills, you should have a chance to use your clinical time to understand some administrative procedures such as managing files and how to use some hospital software.
Get inspired by professional nurses
During nursing clinicals, you will have the opportunity to work with other professionals in the healthcare field. Additionally, working with patients from different programs will boost your confidence.
What should you expect from Nursing Clinicals?
Both new and seasoned nursing students can be overwhelmed by clinical rotations. To effectively prepare for your clinical rotations, remember the following concepts:
Time management is essential: During your clinical rotations, you will probably spend 5 to 8 hours a day depending on your nursing program. During this time, you will discover that time management is essential for the successful completion of patient care tasks such as assessing, bathing, feeding, medicating, ambulating, and taking vital signs.
Expect to work as a team: You will have to work with other workers in the healthcare profession. During your clinical, it’s important to partner with other student nurses so that you can stay on time with specific nursing duties such as assessing, bathing, and ambulating patients. You will also learn a lot by observing other student nurse’s styles of patient care.
You can never know it all: Although you may spend time reading books to perfect your skills, you should know when to turn to others for assistance. Always remember that the professional nurses you’ll be working with underwent the same process that you’re going through. Therefore, if you need assistance they will be willing to help you.
How to Prepare for Clinical Rotations
- Understand the patient’s chart
- Plan the appropriate type of care
- Familiarize yourself with the patient’s medication
- Understand the procedures patients undergo
- Understand lab and diagnostic tests
- Listen and think critically about what your supervisors tell you to do so you can follow their directions
How to Survive Clinical Rotations
Regardless of what you expect from clinicals, after getting used you’ll want to experience more and more. Follow these simple tips to make clinical rotations more enjoyable.
Make friends: This is the number one rule to survive in clinical rotations. Experienced nurses also underwent clinicals and should guide you on some key areas. While making mistakes in nursing school is expected, you should learn from mistakes you made so they are not repeated.
Be task-oriented: You can do this by setting goals that are achievable. Clinicals can be hard, especially if it’s your first time. However, beginning your day with a focused mindset on the tasks and sticking to your schedule can be of great help. Each day will have its share of tasks and responsibilities, and you should learn from each experience.
Think long term: When you're in a difficult moment in clinicals you might feel like you're never going to make it through. Remember that clinicals are preparing you for the hectic and tax life of a nurse. Every day you could learn something new and important to help you get through the rough patches and make you a better nurse.
Are you interested in nursing? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing, ECPI University offers this program at an accelerated pace. For more information on this exciting opportunity, connect with a helpful admissions officer today.
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