Clinical rotations are a vital part of nursing training as they provide you with hands-on experience in different real-world clinical settings. Due to COVID-19, many students did not get the training that they needed. Clinicals help you learn how to appropriately care for patients while helping you hone your nursing style and discover the type(s) of nursing you enjoy most. If you are looking to gain more hands-on experience, then you can count on our highly trained professionals to utilize the most up-to-date protocols and procedures throughout your rotation.
What Are Clinical Rotations?
Nursing clinicals are key components that help prepare you for your future career in nursing. The experience of working with real patients is vastly different compared to simulations and skills labs you may have completed during nursing school. Rotations are performed at various inpatient and outpatient health care facilities under the guidance of an experienced registered nurse or preceptor. Our students may complete clinical rotations at a wide array of health care facilities, including:
- Children’s hospitals
- Community health clinics
- General hospitals
- Intensive care units
- Long-term care facilities
- Mental health facilities
- OB-GYN clinics
- Rehabilitation centers
- Urgent care clinics
- Wellness centers
Each facility provides you with experience in diverse clinical settings and specialty areas, which can help you find the right fit in the nursing world.
What Nursing Students Learn in Clinicals
Nursing clinical rotations expose you to various practice areas to prepare you for the myriad of health care scenarios you may encounter in your nursing career. Clinical rotation shifts and what you learn during these shifts can vary depending on your setting and instructor, just like shifts for professional nurses. Among the many things you learn in clinicals, some that are of top importance include communication, working as part of a team and caring for patients holistically. Nursing students may also gain experience with:
- Taking the patient’s medical and surgical history
- Using HIPAA protocols when handling sensitive patient information
- Taking and recording vital signs
- Performing overall health assessments
- Escorting patients to various procedures
- Assisting with placing IVs or removing foley catheters and other procedures
- Performing safe therapeutic interventions
- Helping calculate and administer medications
- Assisting patients with activities of daily living, such as personal hygiene tasks
- Changing bed linens
- Charting/documenting tests, procedures, medications and interactions in medical records
- Relating to patients on a personal level
- Exhibiting genuine caring and empathy
- Managing time effectively
Nursing school clinicals can also increase your critical thinking, ability to learn new skills and expertise and confidence in providing basic patient care while interacting with patients and fellow staff members. These rotations are the best representation of what it’ll be like working as a nurse.
Master a wide array of nursing skills by completing your clinical rotations with Aceso. All our programs are designed by nurses, for nurses, so you can count on a well-rounded experience. Contact us at 850-792-2376 to enroll in our next round of clinical rotations today.
