While I was a nursing student, I can’t remember anyone addressing the process of setting boundaries in clinicals.

But it’s such an important skill to master early on and continue to use throughout your entire journey!

The key is to build your skills and confidence by walking a fine line between “watch-and-learn” and “go get ’em, tiger”!

Don’t let your role be reduced to only a “helper” in nursing clinicals

You’re paying a lot of hard-earned cash, sweat, and…let’s be real…sometimes tears to be there!

So you owe it to yourself to squeeze every last drop of nursing knowledge out of your experience in clinicals.

Most preceptors are great, but occasionally you may run into a few who think of having a nursing student as more of a personal pack mule.  These nurses end up delegating tasks like feeding patients or sending you on errands to fetch water while he or she does the very “nursing” things you’re there to learn.

Don’t get me wrong…

It’s totally okay to lend a hand here and there with those time-saving tasks.

But you should definitely be able to set limits with your preceptor.  If he/she repeatedly delegates these things, you risk missing out on valuable hands-on nursing experiences.

Communicate with your preceptor

Be prepared to politely tell these preceptors that while you want to be an asset to their day, it’s important that you can be fully present in experiencing what it’s really like to be a nurse.

It’s pretty hard to argue with that logic!

It’s also possible that the nurse you’re paired with is so busy juggling tasks, or is just not experienced with being a preceptor, that he/she doesn’t even realize it’s happening.

If that fails, communicate with your instructor

Unfortunately, there will always be some people who are just not easy to work with.

If talking with that person directly fails, don’t be afraid to let your instructor know what’s going on.

Of course, I don’t recommend tattling every little thing to your instructor.  But if you don’t have luck getting results on your own, your instructor is a great resource and advocate for helping you get the most out of your clinical experience.

Some nurses forget that we were all new at one point or another!

Your clinical experience should not be diminished by an unwilling preceptor.

In extreme cases, your instructor may even reassign you to a more willing nurse.  At the very least, they can keep an eye out for opportunities to pull you for throughout the day.

Have a helpful attitude

Nurses do plenty of dirty work…

Cleaning up after patients (ahem…sometimes family members), delivering refreshments, supervising bathroom trips, and countless other tasks.

It’s just part of the deal you signed up for!  You definitely should never have an attitude that any task is beneath you.

However, there are simply not enough hours in a shift to be able to do every single task for every patient.

That’s what the team approach is for!

As you get used to the flow of the unit, be helpful and take initiative with lending a hand.

It’s inevitable that at some point you will be the one that needs help.  The people around you will be much more likely to return the help if they remember your great attitude!

At the same time, pay attention to how your preceptor handles the delegation process.  Balancing the simpler aspects of the job along with all the critical nursing responsibilities is probably one of the most tricky (and important) parts of being a good nurse.  It’s also majorly essential in effectively managing your time.  Delegating is important to make sure you get your top priorities done.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to get the most out of your hours in clinical and to (respectfully!) speak up if you feel you’re missing out!

What tips do you have from your own clinical experiences?