Hello,
Next Month for the fall semester I start Nursing School(BSN program) and i highly need some advice on the first year as what to expect and how should i conduct myself in a professional health setting! Im really nervous but at the same time excited because this has been my dream as a little girl! What should I expect out of clinicals and is it rewarding after you actually finish the program?!! Thx:)
Wow! Congratulations. I graduated from my basic nursing program which was 3 year diploma, in 1965. Just keep yourself open to learning. There are actual classes included in the curriculum that will address how to conduct oneself professionally – in a professional health setting! Most of all, listen more than you speak, treat others as you would be treated. Respect your patient, your colleagues, and yourself. Clinicals should give you the opportunity to apply practically what you have learned academically, and to see the impact – both positive and negative- of your actions. Sometimes this will be through observation only – I’m told that nursing students no longer scrub in at surgery; I’m not sure about attending births. You will see the best and the worst of humanity. Your senses will be assaulted by sights, sounds, and odors you may never encounter anywhere else. You will be part of a unique group of people who know life from the inside out; sometimes you will wish you didn’t. You should expect and receive expert support from your clinical instructors, and to have your questions answered, or at least be directed to a resource to find the answers. You can expect your experience to have an emotional impact. If it doesn’t, I’d encourage you to examine that. For either, you’ll need a counseling type relationship either with a faculty member or other respected person, but someone with experience in dealing with such. You can expect Nursing to be very rewarding. You can also expect it to be physically and emotionally draining. You can expect that there will be days so challenging that you want to never go back. But then you do, and you’re glad. I hope this helps