Hands-on experience in both the Chamberlain SIMCare Center™ and the on-site clinical setting allow nursing students to work side-by-side with faculty, mentors, peers, and experienced professional nurses as they refine their direct patient-care nursing skills. These skills include technical proficiency, as well as those determined by the National Student Nurses’ Association as necessary for practicing professional nursing. These skills require an eagerness to learn, determination, confidence, acceptance, caring, and “unbiased compassion for all” (NSNA, 2008).

Students who actively assume responsibility for their own clinical learning get much more out of clinical rotations than those who just passively observe. Accepting accountability for their academic and practical responsibilities, good mental and physical health, stamina and endurance, and the development of a sense of humor are all keys to success throughout your clinical rotations. In a clinical setting, patient census and care needs constantly change. Students must maintain a flexible attitude as clinical assignments change in order to maximize their learning experience. This is good practice for the role of a professional nurse.

Clinical Requirements

Clinical Learning for the Second Degree BSN Option

All BSN students participate in clinical learning activities as part of their educational program. This includes both precepted and faculty-directed clinical groups at various healthcare facilities.

In addition to completing the required number of clinical hours for each clinical course, students in the Second Degree BSN Option are also required to attend two (2) on-site, five-day immersions during the first semester. The five-day sessions includes skills validation in the nursing-skills laboratory, and demonstration of competency in a clinical simulation lab and/or direct patient care setting, both under the supervision of Chamberlain faculty. At the end of the Second Degree BSN Option curriculum plan is a required five-day residency during which students will demonstrate competency in a clinical simulation lab, complete the required exit exam and prepare for the NCLEX-RN® exam.

The faculty and affiliating clinical agencies of the College have established the need for nursing students to be certified in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for Healthcare Professionals and to complete background screening, drug screening, and fingerprint clearance, as necessary. All students enrolled in Chamberlain programs must be certified in CPR and must meet all other clinical compliance requirements. After initial certification, each student is responsible for maintaining and renewing his/her own annual CPR certification and keeping other clinical compliance requirements up to date.

Chamberlain College of Nursing recognizes that nursing is an intellectually, mentally, and physically demanding profession. Students seeking admission should be aware that all graduates are expected to assimilate basic competencies and abilities throughout their education with or without reasonable accommodation. Competencies and functional abilities required of all nurses are summarized in the table below.

Regardless of whether a student is enrolled in the associate- or bachelor-level nursing program, all students begin their hands-on learning in high technology SIMCare™ Centers located on each campus. Once fundamental skills have been mastered and validated, students begin on-site, direct patient-care learning opportunities, or “clinicals”. Generally, clinicals last for the duration of the clinical course. Clinical shifts average six to eight hours, one to two days per week. Most clinicals are scheduled during the week. However, second shift and weekends may be possible. The associate degree program has a total of eight clinical courses. The bachelor degree program has a total of nine. Initial clinical courses provide students their first opportunities to interact directly with professional nurses, their patients and patient families, providing immediate reinforcement of assessment and other skills learned in the lab.

From there, nursing students in both degree programs will develop a mastery of medical/surgical nursing concepts and skills and experience two levels of adult health, with focuses on health promotion and the management of conditions that require acute and chronic care. All students experience both observational and hands-on learning in mental health, maternal-child also called “obstetrics”, and pediatric nursing.

The final associate degree program clinical rotations relate to multi-system alterations in adult patients, including complex interactions among various body systems and their implications for nursing care. There is also an advanced medical/surgical opportunity that explores acute and chronic complications, as well as patient and family discharge education. These experiences could occur in intensive-care units, acute-care units, and/or emergency departments/rooms.

Bachelor degree students experience two unique clinical-based courses: community health and collaborative healthcare, sometimes referred to as management or leadership. Community health clinical experiences occur within a community, where students, assigned to a mentor or preceptor, experience one-to-one or very small group settings in which health promotion or community-based healthcare is delivered. The collaborative healthcare clinical experience promotes critical thinking, patient care planning, delegation, relationships building, and confidence. This clinical usually takes place in an acute-care setting with an assigned mentor or preceptor.

Professional and proficient nursing doesn’t just occur in hospitals and neither should a nursing student’s clinical experiences. Chamberlain College of Nursing students may have opportunities to experience practice settings that include large and small hospitals, long-term care facilities, community and public-health agencies, faith-based service organizations, independent practices, ambulatory care centers, public health agencies, military services (Army, Navy, and Air Force), Veteran’s Administration Medical Centers, schools, home health environments… anywhere healthcare is delivered. Students also may participate in service-based learning in other countries via international nursing service project opportunities.