What does a Student Nurse do?

Very good question as I am one!!

We go to clinicals once a week. Clinicals are in the hospital setting and we are basically nurses. We bathe the patients, feed them if needed, change their bedding, clean their bottoms if needed, give meds, take vital signs, and chart everything in their charts.

I just finished my mental health rotation and in the fall will begin obstetrics and pediatrics.

Information on the following sites should give you an idea. A student nurse can have many responsibilities dependent on a number of factors. It depends on the guidelines set forth by your educational institution.

The Hospital for Sick Children - Nursing Student Roles and Responsibilities (http://www.sickkids.ca/NursingStudentOrientation/section.asp?s=Nursing+Student+Roles+and+Responsibi lities&sID=17206)

Home (http://www.dhss.mo.gov/LPHA/PHNursing/StudentNurse_R_04.htm)

Nursing Student Responsibility, Professional Conduct, & Academic Honesty — School of Nursing (http://www.son.rochester.edu/son/current-students/academic-honesty)

As I stated I am a student nurse going right now for my associates degree.

What a student nurse does is all very dependent on what degree you are seeking as well as what semester you are in.

For instance, this semester I could not assist in labor and delivery as I have not done that yet, but I can start IV's, give my patients their medicines, start and discontinue foley catheters, etc.

It all depends on your level of study.

I will tell you that wrinting care plans is a B!tch!!

In N.D. a student nurse is considered a level above a can but still restricted in some areas of practice. As J_9 stated, the areas allowed depends on the clinicals completed successfully in the degree the nurse is going for. Once the student has completed all coursework and clinicals, she (or he) is considered a graduate nurse and can pretty much do all things the R.N. can do, with supervision of the R.N.

I will give you an idea. I am a second semester student in a 2 year course of study. Prior to this semester I could give baths, clean butts as needed, change linens, take blood pressures, insert and discontinue nasogastric tubes, begin and discontinue foley cathaters, just for a few. Now this semester we built on those skills. I can now give meds of all sorts, narcotics and the like. I can start and discontinue IVs and give shots as well as PO meds (oral meds). Each semester builds on the previous semester.

For every 12 hour clinical shift there is about 8 - 10 hours of paperwork that must be completed in order to learn how to be a good nurse.

Now, there is not pay involved with this, in all actuality you pay to do this as it is part of your college tuition.

In my area all of the schools hold clinicals one day per week. Tests are usually every 2 weeks and can cover as little as 15 chapters or as many as up to 50 chapters.

We are an accredited school in our area and are part of the Board of Regents which means all of the schools must go by the same curriculum.

First semester is Fundamentals of Nursing - clinicals focus on geriatrics
Second semester is Med-Surg and Mental Health - clinicals focus on surgery and mental health
Third semester is obstetrics and pediatrics - the clinical focus here is obvious.
Fourth semster is ICU and cardiology (I believe that is all) - clinical focus here is obvious as well.

As for the pay of a nurse... in my area at one particular hospital the pay is approximately $360 for a 12 hour shift and that is without various shift diffs.

$360.00 for a 12 hour shift does not seem nearly enough considering ALL the responsibilities the R.N. has for her (his) patients, other nurses, doctors, etc. and so on. You have to be right on all the time. People who go into nursing are not doing it for the money.

No Shy, it is not that much money, but think you only have to work 3 shifts a week. Then with shift diff for 3rd shift that is another $4 an hour, if you work with say AIDS patients that is another $4 an hour. There is also medical and dental insurance that many hospitals pay for, etc.

Nursing is definitely not for money unless of course you consider being a travelling nurse who can make upwards of over $100,000 per year.