Top 10 things to recollect when admitting a nursing student

We have all been nursing students – some recent, others – nevertheless it should not be too difficult to recollect those first clinical experiences and the impact our clinical educators had. If you end up teaching a student this semester, keep this recommendation in mind to make it the perfect possible experience for each the coed and yourself.

1. Smile.
2. Remember, you were once in the coed’s shoes.
3. Introduce yourself and introduce the coed to other colleagues on the unit. Make the coed feel welcome, included and a part of the team.
4. Treat the coed as you desire to to be treated as a student.
5. Be honest and communicate openly with the trainer to make sure an optimal student experience. Be sure to let the trainer know if hiring a student for this shift will not be ideal.
6. At the start of your shift, establish responsibilities and necessary details, comparable to:
   • Student’s working hours in the course of the day
   • Documentation obligations
   • At what stage of education is the coed (first semester, graduation soon?)
   • What can a student do? What will the coed do (care, emptying drains, administering medications [does this include PO, IM, SQ, IVPB]dressing change)?
7. Communicate! Report back to the coed and tell them how you usually prioritize your shift. Do you see all of your patients first, then medications, after which care? Or do you see one patient at a time and supply care throughout the day?
8. Listen to the coed’s concerns. For example, ask a student in the event that they feel comfortable completing a task on their very own before you assign it. Also listen to non-verbal cues.
9. See if anything interesting is going on together with your patients or if there are other experiences that might serve pretty much as good learning opportunities, comparable to bedside PICC insertion, bedside ECHO, etc. Is someone going to a cardiology lab, radiology, IR, OR, HD?
10. Share a story or memory from if you were a student or recent nurse. Be sure so as to add that the trail to a nursing profession is a journey that many others have taken to develop into a successful nurse, and that the coed will not be alone.

Let’s help the subsequent generation develop into the nurses we would like to be when caring for our family members. What other advice do you may have for clinical educators?