When you attend nursing school, irrespective of where it is located, you will likely attend a course that is divided into 2 parts. First are the lectures, where you have sat around and listened to a professor telling you the basics of nursing. Then, there is the second part that almost all students dread; the clinicals.
As the name suggests, the clinicals are the part of the course where you get to work on the wards. You will be faced with real clinical issues, real patients who exist on a real ward, and you will be responsible for performing real-life nursing duties.
But before you panic, here are some key things you can do to prepare yourself for nursing clinicals.
Remember Your Studying
It sounds obvious, but when you have studied to be a nurse at a campus or via UIndy online ABSN program, you will have the academic aspect of the course down. When you are on the ward, you will need to remember facts like healthy vital signs, how to change a colostomy bag, and how to run urine dip tests.
This may not sound reassuring, but if you do a quick revision session each night before a shift, then this will help you to relearn your skills. After all, you can't remember everything.
Practice
There are many ways that new nurses and nursing students can practice their skills. For one thing, when you are studying, you can set up a study group, where you and the other members can practice taking obs, giving advice, and role-playing difficult situations and conversations that you may have to have with patients. Then, you can give each other feedback. This will help you to identify areas in your own skillset that require improvement and can also help you to develop your bedside manner.
Prepare Emotionally
OK, so you know in theory how to deliver bad news to a patient, but you can bet your bottom dollar that in the real world, it is exceptionally different.
When you begin working on your clinical placements, you will need to prepare emotionally for what you may be faced with. This is more important if you are working in challenging settings like mental health and ER. All nursing is challenging, but in some environments, you are more likely to be faced with danger than in others. You can build emotional resilience with activities such as meditation, or exercise, as this will help to keep your mood leveler.
Go To Sleep
It's the night before your first day on your clinical placement, and you are wide awake panicking. You know how this plays out; the next day, you will be on your way to work exhausted, making it harder to offer the right level of care. As hard as it is, aim to get between 8-9 hours of sleep. If you are having trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor and inform your lecturers.
Hand Sanitizers
After 2020, this shouldn't need to be said, but one thing you can do when preparing your uniform for clinicals is to include a hand sanitizer. This will prevent the spread of germs and will prevent you and your patients from becoming ill.
