Anecdotes

When on clinical placement, put yourself in a position of being busy. Ask questions, ask to lead, ask to take over. Even in times where there is seemingly nothing to do, there is always something to do as minimal as it may be.

During labs, always ask your lab leader questions. By asking questions you’re furthering your knowledge on said thing. I find myself bringing up and asking questions that sometimes aren’t necessarily even relevant to the current topic, just clinical/nursing related questions that I thought my lab leader would know the answer to. Every time you ask a question about something, that’s another thing you no longer “don’t know” about.

When on clinical placement, pack a set of extra clothes in case they get soiled or dirty. You don’t want to be walking around in contaminated clothes, that’s just disgusting and unsanitary. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

When on clinical placement, always wear slip resistant and water resistant (preferably leather as they’re easy to clean) shoes. You are mandated to wear non permeable shoes anyway by your institutions but even if you weren’t, you’ll realise its importance once you see how wet and dirty conditions can get. Don’t do yourself a disservice.

When measuring respiratory rate, never tell the patient that you are counting their breaths as it typically leads to abnormal breathing. Instead, tell them you’re measuring their pulse for one minute. During that minute, measure their pulse for the first thrity seconds then switch to observing their breaths for the next thirty seconds, all while keeping your fingers on their radial pulse for the entire minute.

When on clinical placement, always carry around a pen and a small note pad. The notepad is not always necessary but at times when you need to write someting down or have spare paper around you, you’ll be glad you carried it the entire time.