Nursing clinicals will probably be the most significant part of your career as a nursing student. Clinicals helps you begin to get the hands-on experience needed for a successful career in nursing. With the tools, knowledge, and resources you gain from clinicals, you'll have a rewarding and long-lasting career as an RN. They provide you with the best understanding of what your day-to-day will look like as a nurse. With clinicals, the skills you've learned in your nursing program's coursework and labs are put into real-world practice on actual patients.
4 Reasons Why Clinicals Are So Important
You'll gain experience in different environments.
Clinicals help you gain experience in different hospital environments. As you go through your clinical rotations, you will quickly realize each hospital has different ways of tracking time, dosing, and charting. It's crucial that you pay attention to these differences because you may end up working at one of those hospitals.
Clinical rotations allow you to explore different specialties in different clinical environments. Clinicals typically are 1-4 weeks long, so it's up to you to use your time wisely and make the most of your experience. Don't be afraid to ask for help – this shows fellow nurses you are willing to learn.
You'll build your network.
Beyond just gaining hands-on experience, nursing clinicals allows you to build useful connections for the future.
Be prepared for every clinical rotation by putting your best foot forward. You may run into a future reference or employer.
When it comes to finding employment, a lot of times, it's about who you know. Making a good impression doesn't start during the interview process; sometimes, it starts during clinicals. While it's not a guarantee of employment, you'll be surprised at the number of people who received job offers during clinical rotations.
You get experience performing the tasks of a registered nurse.
Sometimes, it's hard to know what to expect from clinicals. No two days are alike. Getting to try different nursing specialties and tasks are a part of the clinical experience.
Clinicals help you get an up-close view of the tasks of a registered nurse. During clinicals, you'll be assigned to a nurse at a local hospital. You will be able to work alongside them, ask questions, and learn various nursing skills. Clinicals allow you to sharpen your skills while working on the floor. You will get a lot of experience doing basic nursing procedures like giving IVs, checking blood pressure, giving injections, and other nursing skills.
You will gain the confidence to move forward.
The experiences you gain during clinicals will help you feel confident and prepared to take the NCLEX-RN exam and move on to your career's next phase. You'll also better understand what nursing specialty best suits your personality and future career goals.
Clinicals will present challenges. For one, you'll have to adjust to an often hectic schedule and learn how to maximize your time. You may be working as long as 12-hour shifts and will still need to keep up with any coursework you have. However, learning how to overcome these obstacles prepares you to handle whatever comes your way as a registered nurse.
Get Started with Achieve Test Prep!
Now that you know their importance, are you ready to take on the challenge of nursing clinicals? Achieve Test Prep offers a 3-part clinical prep program that gives you the theory and hands-on practice experience in the field. Achieve Test Prep prepares you for clinicals and make sure that you're successful every step of the way. Find out more on how Achieve Test Prep can help. Contact us here.
