January 23, 2024 • 9 mins
Ever found yourself eyeing the clock during clinical rotations, counting down the minutes until freedom? That's a mindset I'm here to challenge, because as I report back to you as a working nurse post nursing school, I know firsthand the power of embracing every learning opportunity that comes your way. In this episode of Nursing Student Coach, I'm peeling back the curtain on how to revolutionize your clinical experiences from obligatory hours to a treasure trove of hands-on learning. We'll explore strategies for diving into medication administration and why volunteering for every task can accelerate your journey from student to standout nurse.
Get ready to shift gears as we navigate the clinical landscape together. I'll be sharing the indispensable lessons I learned transitioning from another career into nursing, giving you a head start on recognizing both generic and brand names of medications – crucial for real-world nursing. Plus, I unpack why seizing every chance to practice your skills in a controlled environment is not just preparing you for exams, but for the high-stakes world of healthcare. By the end of our time together, you'll view your hours in clinicals not as a countdown to the end of the day, but as an investment in your future as a confident, proactive healthcare professional.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody and welcome to season two of Nursing
Student Coach.
My name is Lauren Chapnick.
I'm your host.
I'm a registered nurse.
Nursing is a second career forme and I found ways to thrive in
nursing school and now as a newnurse in an emergency
department.
I want to take this season toshare my stories, experiences
(00:22):
and lessons with you so that youcan become the best nursing
student and the best nurse, andreally just the best version of
yourself that you could possiblybe.
All episodes are 10 minutes orless, so you can grab it and go.
And a couple more things beforewe get into today's show.
If you could kindly take acouple seconds to pull out your
(00:43):
phone, give us a quick five starrating and review.
It helps so much more than youeven know to put the show in
front of more future nurses,because it is my personal
mission to help put more greatnurses into the world and I need
your help to do that.
So thank you so much.
And lastly, the views andopinions expressed on Nursing
(01:04):
Student Coach are those ofLauren Chapnick and hers alone.
They are not intended asmedical advice and should not
replace your institution'spolicies or procedures.
So guys on to today's podcast.
It's the Nursing Student Coachgiving you the strategies you
need the most.
(01:27):
Hey everybody, today I want totalk about clinical.
Now I did talk about clinical afew times in the first season.
You spend about half your timeof nursing school in clinical.
So what I said in the firstseason and it still is true is
that you have to be there anyway.
(01:47):
So take full advantage of thetime that you are there.
I've given this so much thoughtbecause I think, collectively,
nursing students really seeclinical as something they have
to do and they dread it a lot ofthe time.
They'd rather be studying forthe exams, because the immediacy
(02:08):
and the stakes are much higherfor those exams.
Right, you're not going to failclinical unless you seriously
harm a patient or you don't go,but you're going to pass
clinical basically by just beingthere, and you also know that
you are not going to be a nursetomorrow, so the stakes don't
(02:30):
feel that high when you're atclinical.
I know because you kind of justthink well, a lot of this I'm
going to learn on the job anyway.
So I got to do this, I got tobe here, so I'm just going to
get by, but really I'm justwatching the clock ready to go
home.
I understand that.
I was there not too long ago, Iget it.
But I'm here to tell you fromthe other side, as a working
(02:55):
nurse, you really need to takefull advantage of every moment
that you can absorb everything,do everything that you possibly
can, skills wise, because onceyou are on your own, the minute
that you pass that NCLEX and youhave that license, you are
legally able to do all of thesethings, and if you've never done
(03:18):
them before, it's going to be alot harder for you.
So first season I did anepisode.
I have a list of my top 10 waysto succeed in clinical and in
the first season I did anepisode where I went over two of
them.
They were arrive early anddon't take unnecessary absences.
Now, during season two, I willeventually get through all of
(03:41):
that top 10 list.
But today we're going to hitanother two on that list.
The first is medications andthe second is to volunteer for
everything.
So let me go through each ofthose.
Okay, medications there is nobetter time to see and to learn
(04:02):
your medications than inclinical.
If you have an opportunity toeither go with your instructor
or shadow a nurse who is givingmedications, scanning them it's
called the med pass doing youreither morning meds or afternoon
, whatever it is.
If you're on a med search floor, go with them.
(04:23):
Write down the name of the med,the brand and the generic.
In nursing school you're onlylearning the generic name, but
doctors, providers, they allinterchange the name, the brand
and the generic, as do patients.
(04:43):
So if you ask a patient whatmedications are you on and they
say well, but you only know itas be appropriate, then you're
going to be a little bit behind,whereas I challenge you to
learn both.
File it somewhere in your brainso that you can recognize.
You can start to recognizeeither or because in real life
(05:07):
there's nursing school and NCLEXland right, and then there's
real life.
When you get to real life, thegeneric and the brand are
interchangeable.
So you kind of have to learnboth, and I suggest doing it now
.
Write down the names of all ofthe medications that you see
each day at clinical, and thebest way to do this is to team
(05:29):
up with all of your classmateswho are with you and
collectively make a list.
What did everybody else see?
You know this is something youcan do on a break.
Bring flashcards.
Write down the names of all themeds that you saw that day.
What are they for, what do theydo and what's their mechanism
of action.
What are the side effects?
(05:50):
Really flush out anything thatyou can about those drugs,
because you will see them againand when you see them.
Working as a nurse like workingin the emergency department I
see a lot of these the same medsover and over again.
But I will see all kinds ofdifferent medications because
people come in for anything andeverything and if your preceptor
(06:11):
says, hey, why are we givingthis?
Of course you can ask and youcan look it up when you're there
.
But if you have a bigger baselevel of knowledge going in,
you're going to be so muchbetter off, you're going to be
so much more comfortable and youwill feel far less overwhelmed
by the medications.
If you've taken the time inclinical to learn them as many
(06:35):
as you can, you're there anyway.
Guys, right, let's takeadvantage of that time.
Let's become the best futurenurses that we can be and learn
those meds when you're in themoment, because it will help you
so much.
Not only will it help you innursing school as a nursing
student, it will help you morethan you even realize.
(06:58):
When you get out there as aworking nurse, the second thing
that I would advise you to do isto volunteer for everything.
If your instructor says or anurse says, hey, does anybody
want to come put in this Foleyfor me?
Would anybody like to come doan NG tube?
You might be scared out of yourpants.
(07:19):
I know I was the first time Iever did a Foley catheter.
I was so scared.
But here's the thing you aresupervised.
You are there with yourinstructor and or another
licensed nurse and you're undertheir license.
They are not going to let youhurt anybody.
They're not going to let youmess it up.
(07:40):
They're going to talk youthrough each and every step and
I guarantee you you're going tofeel so empowered and so amazing
that you worked through thatfear and you said I am scared as
heck to do this, but I'm goingto put my hand up and I'm going
to do it anyway.
And here's why the more skillsthat you have learned, that you
have at least done once.
You may not remember every stepand you may not recall exactly
(08:05):
what to do, but at least ifyou're not working as a new
nurse and you've never done aFoley before.
I don't know why I'm using thatas an example.
But there's lots of differentthings NG tubes, maybe an enema,
I don't know.
Some of you may be able tostart IVs in clinical.
That's something you absolutelywill learn on the job.
(08:28):
But if you have the opportunityto try to start an IV, do it,
because the best way to learnany of those skills is just by
practicing them, by doing them.
My point is, guys, you have tobe a clinical anyway.
I know I've been there before.
I know you just want it to beover.
You just want to get home soyou can study and do the things
(08:48):
that are more pressing, that aremore immediate.
But speaking from experience nowas a working nurse, and I feel
like I did take full advantageof clinical while I was in
school, but there's always roomfor improvement.
I could have always done more.
I'm sure there were times whereI just wanted to get home,
where I had an opportunity and Ididn't take it.
Take every opportunity,volunteer for everything, learn
(09:13):
those medications.
I hope you have a greatclinical experience.
I hope you love your instructor.
I hope you love whateverinstitution you're at.
I hope the nurses there arewanting to teach you and that
you learn and get to talk topatients as much as you possibly
can, and this is the time.
This is the time to get inthere, get your hands dirty and
(09:34):
practice.
Until next time, guys.
I hope you have an amazing day.
I love you all and I will seeyou the next time.
Bye-bye.
Hello everybody and welcome to season two of Nursing
Student Coach.
My name is Lauren Chapnick.
I'm your host.
I'm a registered nurse.
Nursing is a second career forme and I found ways to thrive in
nursing school and now as a newnurse in an emergency
department.
I want to take this season toshare my stories, experiences
(00:22):
and lessons with you so that youcan become the best nursing
student and the best nurse, andreally just the best version of
yourself that you could possiblybe.
All episodes are 10 minutes orless, so you can grab it and go.
And a couple more things beforewe get into today's show.
If you could kindly take acouple seconds to pull out your
(00:43):
phone, give us a quick five starrating and review.
It helps so much more than youeven know to put the show in
front of more future nurses,because it is my personal
mission to help put more greatnurses into the world and I need
your help to do that.
So thank you so much.
And lastly, the views andopinions expressed on Nursing
(01:04):
Student Coach are those ofLauren Chapnick and hers alone.
They are not intended asmedical advice and should not
replace your institution'spolicies or procedures.
So guys on to today's podcast.
It's the Nursing Student Coachgiving you the strategies you
need the most.
(01:27):
Hey everybody, today I want totalk about clinical.
Now I did talk about clinical afew times in the first season.
You spend about half your timeof nursing school in clinical.
So what I said in the firstseason and it still is true is
that you have to be there anyway.
(01:47):
So take full advantage of thetime that you are there.
I've given this so much thoughtbecause I think, collectively,
nursing students really seeclinical as something they have
to do and they dread it a lot ofthe time.
They'd rather be studying forthe exams, because the immediacy
(02:08):
and the stakes are much higherfor those exams.
Right, you're not going to failclinical unless you seriously
harm a patient or you don't go,but you're going to pass
clinical basically by just beingthere, and you also know that
you are not going to be a nursetomorrow, so the stakes don't
(02:30):
feel that high when you're atclinical.
I know because you kind of justthink well, a lot of this I'm
going to learn on the job anyway.
So I got to do this, I got tobe here, so I'm just going to
get by, but really I'm justwatching the clock ready to go
home.
I understand that.
I was there not too long ago, Iget it.
But I'm here to tell you fromthe other side, as a working
(02:55):
nurse, you really need to takefull advantage of every moment
that you can absorb everything,do everything that you possibly
can, skills wise, because onceyou are on your own, the minute
that you pass that NCLEX and youhave that license, you are
legally able to do all of thesethings, and if you've never done
(03:18):
them before, it's going to be alot harder for you.
So first season I did anepisode.
I have a list of my top 10 waysto succeed in clinical and in
the first season I did anepisode where I went over two of
them.
They were arrive early anddon't take unnecessary absences.
Now, during season two, I willeventually get through all of
(03:41):
that top 10 list.
But today we're going to hitanother two on that list.
The first is medications andthe second is to volunteer for
everything.
So let me go through each ofthose.
Okay, medications there is nobetter time to see and to learn
(04:02):
your medications than inclinical.
If you have an opportunity toeither go with your instructor
or shadow a nurse who is givingmedications, scanning them it's
called the med pass doing youreither morning meds or afternoon
, whatever it is.
If you're on a med search floor, go with them.
(04:23):
Write down the name of the med,the brand and the generic.
In nursing school you're onlylearning the generic name, but
doctors, providers, they allinterchange the name, the brand
and the generic, as do patients.
(04:43):
So if you ask a patient whatmedications are you on and they
say well, but you only know itas be appropriate, then you're
going to be a little bit behind,whereas I challenge you to
learn both.
File it somewhere in your brainso that you can recognize.
You can start to recognizeeither or because in real life
(05:07):
there's nursing school and NCLEXland right, and then there's
real life.
When you get to real life, thegeneric and the brand are
interchangeable.
So you kind of have to learnboth, and I suggest doing it now
.
Write down the names of all ofthe medications that you see
each day at clinical, and thebest way to do this is to team
(05:29):
up with all of your classmateswho are with you and
collectively make a list.
What did everybody else see?
You know this is something youcan do on a break.
Bring flashcards.
Write down the names of all themeds that you saw that day.
What are they for, what do theydo and what's their mechanism
of action.
What are the side effects?
(05:50):
Really flush out anything thatyou can about those drugs,
because you will see them againand when you see them.
Working as a nurse like workingin the emergency department I
see a lot of these the same medsover and over again.
But I will see all kinds ofdifferent medications because
people come in for anything andeverything and if your preceptor
(06:11):
says, hey, why are we givingthis?
Of course you can ask and youcan look it up when you're there
.
But if you have a bigger baselevel of knowledge going in,
you're going to be so muchbetter off, you're going to be
so much more comfortable and youwill feel far less overwhelmed
by the medications.
If you've taken the time inclinical to learn them as many
(06:35):
as you can, you're there anyway.
Guys, right, let's takeadvantage of that time.
Let's become the best futurenurses that we can be and learn
those meds when you're in themoment, because it will help you
so much.
Not only will it help you innursing school as a nursing
student, it will help you morethan you even realize.
(06:58):
When you get out there as aworking nurse, the second thing
that I would advise you to do isto volunteer for everything.
If your instructor says or anurse says, hey, does anybody
want to come put in this Foleyfor me?
Would anybody like to come doan NG tube?
You might be scared out of yourpants.
(07:19):
I know I was the first time Iever did a Foley catheter.
I was so scared.
But here's the thing you aresupervised.
You are there with yourinstructor and or another
licensed nurse and you're undertheir license.
They are not going to let youhurt anybody.
They're not going to let youmess it up.
(07:40):
They're going to talk youthrough each and every step and
I guarantee you you're going tofeel so empowered and so amazing
that you worked through thatfear and you said I am scared as
heck to do this, but I'm goingto put my hand up and I'm going
to do it anyway.
And here's why the more skillsthat you have learned, that you
have at least done once.
You may not remember every stepand you may not recall exactly
(08:05):
what to do, but at least ifyou're not working as a new
nurse and you've never done aFoley before.
I don't know why I'm using thatas an example.
But there's lots of differentthings NG tubes, maybe an enema,
I don't know.
Some of you may be able tostart IVs in clinical.
That's something you absolutelywill learn on the job.
(08:28):
But if you have the opportunityto try to start an IV, do it,
because the best way to learnany of those skills is just by
practicing them, by doing them.
My point is, guys, you have tobe a clinical anyway.
I know I've been there before.
I know you just want it to beover.
You just want to get home soyou can study and do the things
(08:48):
that are more pressing, that aremore immediate.
But speaking from experience nowas a working nurse, and I feel
like I did take full advantageof clinical while I was in
school, but there's always roomfor improvement.
I could have always done more.
I'm sure there were times whereI just wanted to get home,
where I had an opportunity and Ididn't take it.
Take every opportunity,volunteer for everything, learn
(09:13):
those medications.
I hope you have a greatclinical experience.
I hope you love your instructor.
I hope you love whateverinstitution you're at.
I hope the nurses there arewanting to teach you and that
you learn and get to talk topatients as much as you possibly
can, and this is the time.
This is the time to get inthere, get your hands dirty and
(09:34):
practice.
Until next time, guys.
I hope you have an amazing day.
I love you all and I will seeyou the next time.
Bye-bye.
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