For nurse students, the culmination of all their efforts, learnings, experiences, trainings and even failures and quite frankly their future careers rest on one final step: the management placement. While the most overconfident of students will feel it is a done deal, practicing caution and assertiveness can make a huge difference. While it’s important to take a step back and congratulate yourself for reaching this final stage, now is not the time to lay low and take it easy – there’s one more final push of student life required.
However, at this point the majority of students should feel more comfortable walking in an extra busy ward, dealing with difficult patients and cases, administering medicines and treatments and managing a schedule that can change in a heartbeat. While the planning and organizing should get easier at this stage, the reality is it never does, so being adaptable, flexible and responsive will always be valuable to any future nurse.
As final exams, certifications and the thrilling job seek all begin unravelling, a couple of useful tips can make this final push, a smooth ride.
1. Be prepared, do some research
Every placement will be different and require different aptitudes and attitudes. The basic skills and learnings will always be valuable, but preparation will be key from day one. A pre-placement visit is always a good idea. Getting a head start and going in for a visit to meet the mentor and future colleagues, asking questions and getting useful pre-reads and even getting familiar with the setting itself with calm some of the nerves and ensure a smoother start.
2. Creating SMART objectives
One of the best ways to make sure goals are set right is to think about them as Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Take for instance, a student nurse who aims to be able to administer treatments without supervision by following appropriate procedures and providing sufficient information to patients is a smart goal which can be measured in a period of 3 months or so and proven by the number of patients who in that timeframe have received information about the drugs they have been given and why, and as well through the documentation available that resulted from that. Goals should not be any more than five to ensure success.
3. Thorough and thoughtful planning
By now, every single nurse student must be aware of the importance of planning. Manging time and patient load on top of other responsibilities is not the easiest thing to do, but is a skill to master. As best practice, it’s important to start off small with a couple of patients and learning their file to their fully. As time goes by, the same can be applied with an increasing number of patients. Getting a planner such as Rotation Manager can help centralize important documents, access shift and patient information easily, order checks and drug screenings, all from a phone. Lastly, the most important thing to understand is that for every mistake, there is a lesson learned and it’s always helpful to take a moment and self-congratulate forthe progress made so far.
