Clinical time

[MCROP]

Hi all, I'm doing my first hospital clinical for my EMT-B class tom. Any suggestions on getting the most out of my time there?

 

[mgr22]

See if you can spend some time at triage, and then maybe follow a few cases from arrival through initial treatment. You'll need the cooperation of at least one sympathetic ED nurse or MD.

 

[Marty Mcfly]

Have fun

 

[MrBrown]

Dont kill anybody

 

[Theo]

Be a sponge. If there's something cool going down, do your best to be in that room. There is alot of great experience to be had if you're proactive and not afraid to get your hands dirty.

Best of luck.

 

[joeshmoe]

Dont be shy. Be helpful, change bed sheets, ask questions. Make sure you have a stethoscope as this is a good opportunity to listen to lung sounds. If a nurse asks you to do something and you arent sure how to do it or go about it, ask, dont guess.

Some nurses and docs might be crabby, even hostile, while others will be helpful and friendly, and others wont even acknowledge your existence, dont let it bother you, just go about learning as much as you can with or without help.

 

[Level1pedstech]

I always like to start by saying that every program and every hospital is different so this is general advice. Most programs are pretty dialed in with their clinical sites so you should have o good idea what to expect and what you need to do.

As a tech I have over the years served as a preceptor for basics as well as medics so I can give you my version of what makes a great clinical rotation. Show up 30 minutes early dressed in the proper attire,your time is limited and you don't want to have to run home and change. I have seen people show up in shorts and flip flops,not exactly proper or professional.

Check in with the charge nurse and find out if you have a preceptor,this is usually going to be a tech but it could be an RN or CNA. Learn the departments rules and do's and dont's for students and then the department layout. From then on your goal is to lay hands on as many patients as possible,this is your time and you need to get after it. Do what your going to be doing as a provider in the field practice assessments,listen to lung sounds,get vitals (manually).

Interaction with sick people is the goal so move along from patient to patient. Don't limit yourself to only trauma or ambulance patients, Some of the sickest and most complex cases come right through the front door. Do get in on some trauma,I like to have students with me when I record or circulate on traumas that way they are not hiding in the corner and missing out on the good stuff.

If the department has a separate children's emergency department you will for sure want to spend some time there. If its a smaller mixed department keep an eye open for ped patients,this may be the only exposure you have to very sick children. As a peds tech I can tell you that even if you look in on just a few patients you can learn some great tricks and pick up skills that will help you greatly in the field. Learning how to take care of the little ones is an area that like other specialties really needs more time when it comes to clinicals but that is mainly an issue for medic students that have a longer more involved set of clinicals.

I know from the other thread that like me your an older guy (I'm 47) so this hopefully wont be advice for you but for the younger students. Please exercise maturity and act professionally at all times when in the unit. There is a time for horseplay and joking around but the ER is a serious (most of the time) setting and you need to act accordingly. Most of all have fun and remember to get hands on as many patients as possible.

 

[Radioactive]

If you've never had any sort of patient contact before, remember that patients (unlike doctors) are people, too, just like us. You can just go up and talk to them, all on your own. Tell them you're a student, they'll probably think that's cool. You can ask them questions. You can walk right up to them and ask to take thier vitals. You'll probably be nervous, and that's fine, too. All of us were there once, and we managed to get through it. So will you.

edit: I just noticed that s/he posted this yesterday. I find it ironic that they will most likely come back to the thread and read my advice after thier first clinical is already over.

 

[joeshmoe]

Most programs are pretty dialed in with their clinical sites so you should have o good idea what to expect and what you need to do.

My program was definitely not one of these. We had no orientation during our first clinical, and no "precepter" per se. My orientation consisted of the waiting room desk clerk saying go through those doors. We were on our own after that.

 

[Level1pedstech]

If you've never had any sort of patient contact before, remember that patients (unlike doctors) are people, too, just like us. You can just go up and talk to them, all on your own. Tell them you're a student, they'll probably think that's cool. You can ask them questions. You can walk right up to them and ask to take thier vitals. You'll probably be nervous, and that's fine, too. All of us were there once, and we managed to get through it. So will you.

edit: I just noticed that s/he posted this yesterday. I find it ironic that they will most likely come back to the thread and read my advice after thier first clinical is already over.

Ditto!

 

[Level1pedstech]

If you've never had any sort of patient contact before, remember that patients (unlike doctors) are people, too, just like us. You can just go up and talk to them, all on your own. Tell them you're a student, they'll probably think that's cool. You can ask them questions. You can walk right up to them and ask to take thier vitals. You'll probably be nervous, and that's fine, too. All of us were there once, and we managed to get through it. So will you.

edit: I just noticed that s/he posted this yesterday. I find it ironic that they will most likely come back to the thread and read my advice after thier first clinical is already over.

Regarding your edit, same here but our advice is there for all the others that will follow.

 

[Level1pedstech]

My program was definitely not one of these. We had no orientation during our first clinical, and no "precepter" per se. My orientation consisted of the waiting room desk clerk saying go through those doors. We were on our own after that.

That's really wrong and it should never be that way. I hope you had a good experience regardless. I know my first ER rotation after basic class rocked and becoming a tech was the first job on my list of things to accomplish after I got done with class.

 

[Level1pedstech]

I always like to start by saying that every program and every hospital is different so this is general advice. Most programs are pretty dialed in with their clinical sites so you should have o good idea what to expect and what you need to do.

As a tech I have over the years served as a preceptor for basics as well as medics so I can give you my version of what makes a great clinical rotation. Show up 30 minutes early dressed in the proper attire,your time is limited and you don't want to have to run home and change. I have seen people show up in shorts and flip flops,not exactly proper or professional.

Check in with the charge nurse and find out if you have a preceptor,this is usually going to be a tech but it could be an RN or CNA. Learn the departments rules and do's and dont's for students and then the department layout. From then on your goal is to lay hands on as many patients as possible,this is your time and you need to get after it. Do what your going to be doing as a provider in the field practice assessments,listen to lung sounds,get vitals (manually).

Interaction with sick people is the goal so move along from patient to patient. Don't limit yourself to only trauma or ambulance patients, Some of the sickest and most complex cases come right through the front door. Do get in on some trauma,I like to have students with me when I record or circulate on traumas that way they are not hiding in the corner and missing out on the good stuff.

If the department has a separate children's emergency department you will for sure want to spend some time there. If its a smaller mixed department keep an eye open for ped patients,this may be the only exposure you have to very sick children. As a peds tech I can tell you that even if you look in on just a few patients you can learn some great tricks and pick up skills that will help you greatly in the field. Learning how to take care of the little ones is an area that like other specialties really needs more time when it comes to clinicals but that is mainly an issue for medic students that have a longer more involved set of clinicals.

I know from the other thread that like me your an older guy (I'm 47) so this hopefully wont be advice for you but for the younger students. Please exercise maturity and act professionally at all times when in the unit. There is a time for horseplay and joking around but the ER is a serious (most of the time) setting and you need to act accordingly. Most of all have fun and remember to get hands on as many patients as possible.

MCROP I got you confused with another member,sorry about the age thing.

 

[Pneumothorax]

wow so i had my first clinical on friday. i was so nervous for NOTHING

the ER was pretty busy so i bounced around from room to room , hook pts up to monitors, took vitals, made notes of their conditions/ cc's and meds that they are on and being administered. and after i did all that , i would pop in and talk to em . for some of the pts who were in pain they were still very nice.

this week ill be at a lvl 1 trauma center...hopefully a good medical pt comes through.

 

[Shishkabob]

wow so i had my first clinical on friday. i was so nervous for NOTHING

Nothing to be worried about as an EMT doing clinicals... you aren't the one making any decisions or performing the dangerous stuff, you're just primarily there to talk, see and interact.


Glad you had fun! ^_^

 

[Whittier]

My first clinical starts Wednesday at 9pm. Wish me luck! I'm glad I saw this thread and got to go over the advice given. Thanks all.

Now I'm disappointed that I don't have a stethoscope... my EMT class never required us to get one as they are passed out during school, but that doesn't do me much good going into the clinicals. :sad:

 

[Level1pedstech]

If its anything like our ED there are stethoscopes everywhere some are really nice and some are the cheap ones but for your needs either one will do. If you cant find one just ask I'm sure for the sake of your education someone will cough up a stethoscope. Just be sure to clean before and after,gotta watch those nasty ear fungi. Have fun!

 

[Whittier]

Well I had a great time. Nothing really crazy happened, but I got to see a little bit of everything. Babies, junkies, week long constipation (guess who cleaned the bed after the enema), chest pains, abdominal pains, a stye, an od, a possible pregnancy (I never found out what was up), two diabetics, and... hmm... that might have covered it. The triage nurse was awesome and she really went out of her way to get me involved in as much as possible. She was very patient with me while I was learning where everything was. At one point she was watching me struggle to put my gloves on when she said "I think maybe you need a bigger size" to which I replied, "WHAT? There are different sizes!?!?!" She laughed for awhile at that one... I didn't notice the size on the boxes and I had been grabbing the smalls the first half of the night. Damn! I was getting the hang everything by the end, but then it died down and there was little for me to do.

I learned a lot and I can actually find my way around the ED fairly well now. That was my first time stepping foot in a hospital since I was born... and (lol) I didn't exactly "step" into that one.

 

[robbaN28]

I am currently an EMT student and done with all of my clinicals. We have to do 10 hours Ambulance, 10 hours, ER, and 10 hours Fire Department.
What I noticed was that I would get the most experience in the ER when I was with a Tech. Because they had been in my position and they knew that I wanted to get the most I could out of the clinical. I spent an extra 5 hours in the ER.
If you have a Fire Department clinical. DO THE DISHES after dinner or lunch. They will love you for that. I was actually invited back as a ride-a-long .

Good luck and have fun on your clinical! I gotta tell you though, nothing sucks more than trying to get a set of vitals in the back of the ambulance while en-route