Another paramedic intern question

[vf116]

7 years EMT-B in busy system. Moved to slower county for P-school and work. Passed didactic starting clinicals tomorrow in community hospital. What should I expect? I have 7-AM shifts and 7-PM shifts (12 hours) AM are for scheduled surg and et's from what I hear. I understand I get what I put in, but how was your experience? Do's and dont's?

 

[PotatoMedic]

Just keep asking the RN's if they would like help with anything. Clean rooms if nothing is going on and they are dirty. If you see them go into the med room to get meds ask about the medication and ask if you can administer it. Hold the pt's legs when the RNs do folly caths. Just be helpful. If there is an interesting pt ask the doc about the treatment plan.

 

[Smitty213]

For your OR time, initially just be respectful and don't get discouraged if they kind of shove you away. Surgeons and Anesthesiologist's are a highly educated and touchy breed who have a high risk job, and often times they barely tolerate interning physicians let alone an "EMS Student". If you get there and they actually excited to have you (smaller hospitals are usually a bit more "homey") thats awesome and you"ll get to see some really cool stuff, however, if they seem less than thrilled by your presence, just outline your specific goals for being there (airway management/intubation) and don't be surprised if you get pulled from room to room when theres surgeries to be done and asked to sit in a chair otherwise.

 

[vf116]

Thanks for the input. I'll update when I'm off my shift if it's still up. I think AM shifts will be quicker, but I am a night owl so... We'll see.

 

[hogwiley]

Hospital clinical experiences can vary greatly. Just beware you never know when you are going to get that RN preceptor that grills you on med math and setting up drips and how many max CCs you can give in a given IM site etc, and if you aren't giving the right answers you can kiss any chance of giving meds goodbye. I remember one RN telling me there are certain students who they wont let give meds, so making a good first impression can be important or you are going to struggle to get objectives and skills done, and possibly ruin it for other students. Also keep in mind road experience as an EMT is considered irrelevant to most RNs, so you aren't going to impress them.

OR is also something that seems to vary greatly, but first impressions are even more important because you may not get a lot of chances at intubations.

 

[NYBLS]

Go in willing to do anything. Eventually they will get used to your presence and trust you to do more. Ask what you can do to help and not be a burden.

 

[Frozennoodle]

You're exactly right, you get what you put in to your experience. If you sit in a corner and don't jump in, the staff will leave you alone. If you actively go around and help out in any way you can, they will roll with that too. i find the best way to help build trust with the staff in the ER is to help them out with small things that you wouldn't think of doing as a student. Help with cleaning the beds when patient's get discharged, volunteer to d/c IV lines, go around asking if the nurses need anything done. I did not stop moving when I was there and did everything for them other than pull meds or nursing skills. I started their lines, I drew labs, got the patients on the monitor, did my assessments and grabbed the charts and the 12 leads and did my reports during my down time. I developed a good rapport with the staff and actually got a few intubations while I was in the ER.