✨Nursing school prep series day 17: What to take to clinical✨

Hey y'all, my name's Shana and I'm a nursing instructor. And I'm doing a series on preparing for nursing school and this is day 17. And today we're going to be talking about what to take you to clinical. So clinical is a big stressor for a lot of nursing students, especially if they've never been and don't know what to expect. So the next couple videos we're going to be talking about that. So this video, what are you supposed to take to clinical? So the first thing that you need to have prepared for clinical is your assessment equipment. Think stethoscope, pen light, a manual blood pressure cuff, a watch with a second hand, those types of things you will need for assessment. Okay? Number two, you're going to need your required paperwork. This is going to be dependent per college. Some places may require you to have a care plan that morning when you show up. Some may require you to print out blank nurse's notes or some kind of form that they require. Whatever your required paperwork is, make sure you have it. Okay? Double check that your nursing school college requires you to have. Okay? Number three is pens. Not pens, bring extra, okay? You're going to lose pens all the time at clinical. You're going to sit them down in a patient's room, somebody else is going to pick it up, whatever it may be. Bring lots of pens so that you're not running around trying to find one and ask for one because nobody has pens when you're a nurse unless you bring your own, okay? So make sure you bring extra. Number four is quick snacks and water, okay? Protein bars, something quick and easy. Sometimes you get lunch breaks, sometimes you don't, depending on how long your clinical day is. So you want to bring like a few quick snacks that you can have, and then make sure you have water available. Number five, this is kind of, I don't know, this is more personal, but a small like study material. Like if you want to print out like your common lab values or like a study guide that you put on your clipboard because you don't ever want to set patient information or anything like that down where it can be picked up by a visitor or another patient. So, you know, like your study stuff. But if it's like a page or two of study material that you put on your clipboard because sometimes in clinical you might have downtime, you know, you can read over some notes and it wasn't like wasted time. Number six, you want to bring a foldable clipboard, okay? There's tons of different ones. Um, I like the ones that fold like this. They have some that fold like three times, but my OCD doesn't like that many creases in my paper. But that's just me. So you get whatever clipboard that you want, but I suggest one that fits in your pocket, okay? Because you don't ever want to set patient information or anything like that down where it can be picked up by a visitor or another patient. So, you know, like your study stuff. But if it's like a page or two of study material that you put on your clipboard because sometimes in clinical you might have downtime, you know, you can read over some notes and it wasn't like wasted time. Number seven, you want to bring like your debit card or like small cash for lunch or any breaks where you can maybe go to a vending machine. You never know. So like always bring some form of money with you just in case. And the last thing I will say is your name badge and your required uniform things. So whatever your college requires you to wear, make sure that you have that with you. Um, because when you're a nurse, you have to have your badge to clock in and out and people to know who you are. So same thing with your badge and clinicals, a lot of clinical facilities require students to have student badges, so you must have that or they can't stay. And that's a clinical facility policy, not a nursing school policy. So make sure that you have that with you. So that's just a little rundown of what to take you to clinical. Of course, anything extra that your instructors tell you to do when you get there, of course, take that. But this is just a rundown for me. Tomorrow we're going to be talking about what you're going to be expected to do in your first couple of clinicals. And if you have any questions, y'all let me know.