The road to becoming a nurse is filled with many exciting steps. From choosing the institution you wish to study at, all the way to becoming a fully-fledged nurse. The steps between the first and the last are full of stimulating and interesting lessons. One of these steps includes nursing school clinicals that nurses are able to attend during their nursing studies.
The aim of this article is to shed some light on what nursing school clinicals are, what nursing students can expect from them and what they can learn from these all-important clinicals.
Nursing School Clinical: A Brief Explanation
A nursing clinical can be seen as a more hands-on approach to theory work. The study to become a nurse is filled with a lot of theory, however, the idea behind clinicals is to offer nurses the chance to apply the knowledge they acquired during theory hours and see what things might look like in real life. These clinicals in nursing school can bring about a lot of understanding and information for nursing students.
The whole aim is to give nursing students the opportunity to apply the skills they learned back in a classroom or lab room. It is a wonderful experience to gain hands-on knowledge in an actual setting with real-life patients at a healthcare facility. As a nursing student, who might feel confined to only learning through theory or pretend scenarios, entering a healthcare facility with real-life situations gives them the chance to apply or see how registered nurses (RN) would go about a certain task and learn from them.
How long is a Nursing School Clinical?
It depends largely on the nursing program that the nursing student attends. Usually, a nursing school clinical spans over a certain number of consecutive days within one semester. For a general idea, this could mean attending the healthcare facility for 4 days a semester, for example. It depends on the school and the agreement with the specific healthcare facility.
Nursing Students are Supervised
As nursing students are not yet nurses, it is important for them to be supervised at all times. RN clinical instructors have this responsibility. The RN clinical instructor is there to ensure that the nursing students understand what they need to do and buddy them up with a fellow nurse student. This instructor usually has about 6 to 10 nursing students assigned to them.
The tasks that nursing students are allowed to partake in are relatively basic, to ensure that they can be properly observed and to first make sure they get a hang of the basics before moving on. Some of these include:
- Speaking to the patient to find out more about their medical history
- Spending time with a patient and trying to obtain an assessment, that will be double-checked by the RN clinical instructor
- Helping nurses by bathing or dressing patients
- Assisting with procedures that the RN clinical nurse deems fit
- Simple tasks such as making beds and helping patients go for a walk or go to the bathroom
This is How Nursing Students Can Prepare for their Nursing School Clinical
It can be daunting for a nursing student to go into a proper healthcare facility. It can come across as scary, as students might feel that they do not yet know enough but that is completely normal. The whole idea behind these clinicals is to give nursing students the opportunity to learn more and dive into fields that they might have not considered.
Nursing students can prepare by keeping an open mind. One of the best things about clinicals is that nursing students usually get assigned to different floors and specialties, within each of their clinical periods. This means that they gain access to new specialties and have the opportunity to find a strong interest in a specific field. This will help them choose their specialty when the time comes.
Furthermore, there are a few more mundane things that nursing students can try to remember when it comes to preparing for clinicals. The hours can be long, so be sure to wear comfortable shoes and compression socks. Be sure to make a presentable appearance, as you will be representing your school and the healthcare facility. A great idea is to wear a name badge so that RN clinical instructors and patients may call on you easily.
