How often are Nursing Clinicals?

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Everything you Need to Know About Nursing Clinicals

A lot of questions have been asked by Nursing students about Nursing Clinicals in which one of which is “How often are nursing clinical”. These questions have been asked by nursing students because they want to be prepared ahead for the tasks and activities that are involved in nursing clinical. That’s why in today’s article I’m going to be sharing with you everything you need to know about nursing clinicals, including how often nursing clinicals are being done.

So what’s Nursing Clinical?

A nursing clinical is one of the many ways nursing students get practical experience in patient care. When you’re a nursing student and taking care of patients at local hospitals, you can practice with other students in a group setting. The group size varies from place to place. The idea behind this method is that each student has the same challenges as experienced nurses.

Nursing clinicals can also be said to be an important part of the nursing school curriculum that a nursing student should never miss during his/her school days as a student nurse. Clinicals in nursing school are designed to provide students with first-hand experience in patient care. It gives students the freedom to learn all the essential skills required for them to succeed in their career.

Nursing Clinical Experience Example

There are so many things to experience during the nursing school clinical and it all boils down to how the clinical works and operates and their examples are what we’re going to share in the following section below in this article.

So How Do Nursing School Clinicals Work?

Normally, the clinical exercise starts immediately after the general course study in the school setting. In this first basic period of the nursing, experience student are allowed to get acquainted with the healthcare environment and have their first encounter with patients in the healthcare environment.

During the nursing clinical experience, you will be assigned to an experienced healthcare instructor and also to a specific floor in a clinic, a hospital, or any healthcare facility. Throughout your time in clinical, your instructor will serve as your personal facilitator between your school and the hospital. While acting as your instructor and facilitator he/she can also teach in the classroom and at other times focus more on executing in the clinical setting.

Each day of the clinical, the assigned clinical instructor will allow each student to a specific patient, group of patients, or available nurse for the clinical day. Once you’re assigned, it is now your responsibility as the clinical student to know and determine the healthcare plan for the patients for the day and also understand and provide their needs, medications, and orders which also include knowing their health history. You, ‘re expected to be dedicated and take of the patient like you’re the main assigned nurse in your patient care unit. So always be well prepared before going for the day clinical.

Your care clinical instructor will always be there when you need them. They will be there each time to assist you whenever the need arises. And also whenever you have a question to ask them. However, your instructor will also be the one to grade according to your performance and personal effort during the clinical. You should also have in mind that your instructors are just instructors as they are not directly caring for the patients.

How Often are Nursing Clinicals

Generally, nursing clinical length depends on your area of specialization and the program but the estimated amount of time spent during nursing clinical is usually four or five to eight hours a day (120 – 160 hours per semester program.). Once or twice per week. But like we have pointed out before it still depends on the particular program of the student.

Is a clinical nurse the same as a registered nurse?

Partially, you can say they’re the same but the major disparity between a Registered Nurse and Clinical Nurse is that a typically registered nurses are the nurses who are responsible for providing direct care for their patients. While the Clinical Nurse is capable of providing assistant care role. You can say that their role is typically more supervisory in nature. Instead of providing direct care, they help coordinate care.

What Specialties Will I Observe During Clinicals?

There are so many specialties out there in the healthcare setting. Serving as a clinical nursing student will help you get so much exposure to these specialty. And you will get to be exposed to them due to the rotation that happens during the clinical. This specialty are as follows:

  • Critical care
  • Community Health
  • Emergency
  • Geriatrics
  • Labor and delivery
  • Medical-surgical
  • Perioperative
  • psychiatric
  • Pediatrics

Nursing Clinical Homework

`one of the major parts of the clinical is homework. This part is where you need to write the nursing care plan which is a bit complex. Homework will generally consist of care plans. Care plans are a way for you to connect the patients you see with the nursing process. The five step-by-step process included in the nursing care plan is as follows:

Depending on the particular program you opted for, you will be required to complete at least a specific number of care plans from the list. This may somehow to vary based on the clinical rotation. 

basically, you may have a few days to complete the care plan. Remember – don’t procrastinate! These often take hours to complete.

How Nursing Clinicals are Being Graded.

There are different ways by which every school does its own grading system depending on what they’re trying to archive with each clinical program. Notwithstanding any way by which a school wants to go about there grading system, it must meet up with the general grading guidelines for nursing clinical according to the nurse organization website. 

The generally accepted grading looks like this four things:

  1. Attendance
  2. Participation
  3. Preparedness
  4. Homework

What to Wear During The Nursing Clinicals.

There is a mandated uniform for every clinical program. During your clinical there’s always a uniform you will be told to wear by your school. Some of them are;

  • A pair of special order scrubs in the school’s color
  • A badge from the nursing program
  • You will also be given a badge from the healthcare system

Aside from that, you will also be required to come alongside with your;

  • Nursing report sheet
  • Penlight
  • Pen
  • Stethoscope

How Possible is it to Fail Nursing Clinicals

It is near impossible for you to fail a nursing clinical because there is nothing there to fail. Like I pointed out before earlier in this article; there is a lot of support that comes with nursing clinical this includes the support from your instructor and the other nurses available. This support will help you learn very fast and easily. There is also a series of interactions between you and your instructor while they guide you. 

Therefore there are only a few situations in which you can fail the clinical which will unlikely occur. These few situations is as follows; 

  • Causing harm to a patient which supposes to rescue.
  • Discussing in the clinical while the serious operation is going on
  • Not following the strict clinical guidelines.
  • Going ahead to Administer medications without the presence of a clinical instructor or licensed registered nurse.
  • Potentially causing harm to a patient knowingly

These listed reasons may cause immediate dismissal from the healthcare premises. and other reasons such as tardiness, less engagement, or issues with written assignments most likely will result in a conversation with your clinical instructor. It is also very much advisable to maintain a good line of communication with your clinical instructor. and also have in mind that having to Formulate a plan of action is the best way to achieve success.

How Can I Use Clinicals as a Powerful Career Tool

Clinical is a powerful career tool to excel in your choosing program if you really want to do well after your graduation. During your clinical periods, you will get to experience many different specialties and areas of nursing and also have the opportunity to get in touch with some expert. In fact, in the clinicals there will be a time you may have to decide exactly which specialty you want to pursue after graduation or which you don’t! So If you really like a specific area or floor, introduce yourself to the staff. Get to know them. Get in contact with them. Ask to meet the manager or the nurse educator on the unit.

Make sure to leave a good remark as a clinical nursing student because it might just help you secure a job after graduation.

Nursing Student Clinical Experience Resume Example

CONTACT

ccabal9@email.com

(123) 456-7890

Austin, TX

Linkedin in

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in

Nursing

South University Austin

2018-2021

Austin, TX

SKILLS

HIPPA

Clinical Judgement

Organization

IV Management

Vitals

Clinical Documentation

CERTIFICATIONS

Registered Nurse (RN), TX EMT-Intermediate, 2019

CAREER OBJECTIVE

Registered Nurse (RN) eager to utilize my hands-on EMT and clinical rotations experience in a widely-regarded establishment like the Heart Hospital of Austin. My exposure to CPR and using

an AED has made me particularly interested in heart health.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Volunteer EMT

Community Volunteer Fire Department

2021 – current / Austin, TX

• Worked as an EMT for 1-night shift per week in the busiest area in Austin

• Assessed patients to determine the severity of the patient

condition and provided BLS to treat them • Stabilized patients with life-threatening conditions and

transported them to 4 area hospitals for further treatment

• Collaborated as part of a 3-person team to treat patients and get a deeper understanding of their medical histories • Executed CPR and administered AED for patients without a

Heartbeat

Clinical Rotations

South University Austin

2020-2021 / Austin, TX

• Worked 2 years across a network of hospitals and performed clinical rotations across 7 different departments

• Led presentations to 36+ residents detailing sex-education best practices to reduce STD rates as part of a community nursing rotation

• Provided comfort to terminal patients and visited them 2 times a week outside of work to foster relationships during rotation in Geriatrics

⚫ Navigated 3 stages of labor during OB rotation, learning to identify false labor, check fetal heart rates, and how to deliver in an emergency

• Administered tests and IV treatment during Gastroenterology, developing a holistic understanding of diagnostic procedures

OTHER READS

LIST OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED BY HRSA

How to get Nursing Scholarship Easy and Fast

Veteran Affairs Nursing Scholarships (va) 

List of Texas Nursing Scholarships

List of Scholarship for DNP students

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