Mennonite College of Nursing

MENNONITE COLLEGE OF NURSING At Illinois State University Nursing Care of Children--317

Guide to Clinical Expectations Clinical Assignments

The Clinical Calendar identifies where each student will be each day throughout the semester. Be sure to watch for possible changes in dates and activities over the semester.

Bloomington-Normal Clinical Sites If at Advocate BroMenn Regional Medical Center, students may make their own clinical assignments the morning of or afternoon before clinical, or the clinical faculty member may make assignments and send you information via email. As a teaching hospital, Advocate BroMenn has patients sign a waiver on admission that says that students might be a part of their healing process. You can always check with staff when making your own assignments, if unsure about an appropriate patient. After selecting your patient or mother/baby dyad, examine the patient's chart~ both hard copy and electronic including medications, lab results, caremap or care plan, current health history, and inpatient chart in pediatrics.

Decatur/Peoria Clinical Sites If your clinical is at another site outside of Bloomington-Normal, your clinical instructor will make assignments, however, you are expected to arrive on the unit before the scheduled time to complete preparatory paperwork. Your clinical instructor may send you information via email as well. Be assertive in sharing with your clinical instructor any learning experiences you especially need or desire in order to maximize your learning.

School based clinicals with America’s Promise Project Students at the schools will get directives from their clinical instructor re: how the day will play out. You will be involved in the school nurse’s office some days, but in a variety of other activities at the school. Your instructor will also tell you what ‘prep work’ is required before each clinical. If you are going to the community experiences, follow those guidelines.

It is expected that you will become familiar with computerized documentation systems during your clinical experience. It is essential to choose patients with a variety of challenging diagnoses, situations, labs and meds to facilitate the learning process. THE INSTRUCTOR HAS THE PREROGATIVE TO CHANGE ASSIGNMENTS IF NECESSARY.

Clinical Written Work Requirements

HOSPITAL-BASED CLINICALS

Assessments and Care Plans The clinical forms used in pediatrics are available online for your use throughout the semester. One COMPREHENSIVE PEDIATRIC ASSESSMENT and NURSING CARE PLAN FORM is required during the Pediatric Rotation. Try to complete as much of the history portion, pathophys, etc, as you can BEFORE you have to care for your patient, recognizing that when you get the assignment the morning or afternoon of care this is more difficult. You need to have the dosage calculations done, know the action and reason your pt is receiving meds before you administer them, so try to look them up ASAP after you know you will be administering them. It is also important to have a knowledge of important nursing implications re: drugs. Additional clinical forms include the following: During the Peds rotation, you will complete Evidence-based Practice Worksheet. All of these documents are in links in the course calendar under Pediatric Clinical Materials. The instructor has the right to ask that you complete additional forms to reflect satisfactory performance. The Pediatric Nursing Care Plan is integrated into the big Peds assessment form. If your instructor is in Springfield, or your instructor is not on campus, and would like you to complete the form online, you may type information into the form and then attach the completed form in an email to your clinical instructor by the assigned time each week. Concept Map-- graded component See the specific directives for this graded project. You may work in pairs to develop a concept map, or work independently. This creative project will help you to synthesize theory based on your interpretation of why a child manifests certain symptoms, and why a certain treatment regimen may have been chosen for this child. We trust you will also integrate developmental principles in planning appropriate tactics for implementing your plan of care. This should reflect evidence of current practice standards in pediatric care. The concept map is worth 4% of your course grade.

SCHOOL-BASED CLINICALS Teaching Pamphlet Students will explore an arena of health care need in the school to which you are assigned. You will be developing a tool for the teachers and school nurse re: a disease process or health care need (see guidelines). It is expected that you will include Evidence-Based Practice research in this project. Your clinical instructor will evaluate this teaching pamphlet prior to printing and distributing to the teacher/school nurse.

Family Outreach Project /Home Visit—graded component Students will get familiar with their student with a chronic disease at school, and then schedule a time to make a home visit to further assess the family following the guidelines established. Students will develop a plan to help the child and family in coping with this chronic disease. This is a graded project worth 4% of your grade.

Clinical Assignment Submission

Your clinical instructor will give you instructions re: how to submit your clinical assignments. Each clinical section has its own Reggienet site. You might be asked to submit all assignments electronically in Reggienet. OR your instructor may ask you to submit a hard copy of assignments in a clinical notebook.

Clinical Pre or Post Conference

At the beginning or end of each day in the hospital setting, a pre- or post- conference will be held to review each day's experiences and share achieved learning. A variety of learning activities may take place during these conferences including case studies, videos, guest speakers, etc. Students at the school setting may also have pre-conference on some days or at the end of the day depending on the activities of the day.

Student Evaluation Conferences

Hospital-Based Clinicals: Evaluative conferences are held with students at the end of the clinical rotation. A final evaluation is scheduled with your clinical instructor during the last week of clinical. You must complete a self-evaluation of clinical performance on the Clinical Practice Evaluation Tool (CPET) before meeting with your clinical instructor for the final evaluation. All assignments must be available to the clinical instructor for the purposes of reflection and evaluation by the clinical instructor. IF a student’s performance is UNSATISFACTORY at any point during the pediatric rotation, the clinical instructor will complete a “Course Progress Report” which will be reviewed with the student, showing deficiencies, a plan will be developed for improvement and successful achievement of the course/clinical goals, and the student must sign this report. It will be kept in the student’s academic folder in the Office of Student and Faculty Services.

School-Based Clinicals: Evaluative conferences are held with students at midterm and at the end of the clinical rotation. The forms to be used at each point in the semester are available in the 329 Reggienet website under America’s Promise. You must complete a self-evaluation of clinical performance on the Clinical Practice Evaluation Tool (CPET) before meeting with your clinical instructor for the final evaluation. All assignments must be available to the clinical instructor for the purposes of reflection and evaluation by the clinical instructor IF a student’s performance is UNSATISFACTORY at any point during the combined America’s Promise School Project clinical, the student will receive feedback at the time of the midterm evaluation, with a plan for successful achievement of the course/clinical goals. Professional Appearance when Selecting Patients and for Clinical

Wear lab coat and name pin over neat clothes when you go to select a patient and assess in Peds the night before clinical. Staff members have the right to send students home to change if attire is inappropriate or unprofessional. NO JEANS, T-SHIRTS, OR HATS MAY BE WORN TO GO TO CLINICAL WHEN SELECTING A PATIENT OR REPRESENTING THE COLLEGE AT OTHER COMMUNITY CLINICALS! You may wear the white polo or white uniform top, OR a colored scrub top, white pants, white hose & shoes, and name pin for Peds and OB clinical. It is a hospital policy that socks must be worn with shoes, and shoes may not have ‘holes’ in them—no sandals or crocs. Lab coat is optional. You will change into scrubs only when you are going to surgery. When going to an agency other than the hospital, check with your clinical instructor about attire. Wear your uniform for doctor’s offices and the TAP Program. Wear comfortable, neat street clothes for the daycare center, childbirth education class, Discovery Museum experience, with your name tag.