When you are considering your future career, it’s important to also take into consideration all of the small, but important things throughout your education that may have an impact on your success within that role. This is especially true for students who are considering a career within the nursing field. Being a nurse is no easy or small remote medical scribe jobs. It’s a combination of several different disciplines that all require their own unique understanding. For example, you can expect to learn about in-depth medical terminology, different techniques that must be followed depending on what treatment is being administered at the time, human interaction and how exactly you should be interacting with your patients on a day-to-day basis.
The most important thing, however, is that nursing students are provided the opportunity to gain hands-on and real-world experience within the field. According to an article published by BBN Times, significant research has been carried out on the concept of hands-on training, and it’s been proven to improve not only students’ soft skills but their technical skills as well.
The Pandemic’s Impact on Hands-On Training
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, many students were forced to alter their education route. Students who were planning to gain their education entirely in person were forced to take alternative actions, such as participating in online education and online nursing programs. Luckily, as time went on, schools were better able to adapt to online education and create online training experiences for students as well. Many schools created their nursing programs online to include virtual patients that students could work with to gain real-world experience.
However, now that the pandemic crisis has receded, many students are returning to in-classroom instruction. As they’re looking into which school and which nursing program may best suit them, they are also considering which programs will provide them with the much-needed hands-on experience they will need to be successful in their future roles as nurses.
Why Hands-On Training is So Important for Nursing Students
Hands-on training is essential for nursing students for more reasons than one. When nursing programs lack quality hands-on experience for their students, they are essentially depriving them of necessary and important industry experiences that they could be gaining elsewhere. Consider the plethora of tasks nurses carry out on a day-to-day basis. They may find themselves interacting with patients, administering injections or medications, dressing patients’ wounds, washing patients. The majority of these tasks are hands-on. They can be discussed in a classroom setting, but they should also be addressed in a real-world scenario where students can physically do the tasks themselves. This is the only true way that students can be sure they fully understand the concept or task at hand. If students don’t fully comprehend the task at hand and are only gaining in-classroom instruction, it could potentially lead to burnout or a career change for the student.
It’s also important to recognize that students can’t gain interpersonal experience while reading a book or listening to a lecture. They can’t learn communication skills, care, or empathy from a computer or book. The only true way that students can gain real-world experience is through hands-on education and training. The hands-on training doesn’t just provide students with the educational foundation they require; it also provides them with the essential experience needed to help touch and save human lives. Patients need proper care, and hands-on experience is truly the only way that students can gain a better understanding of the human aspects that go into the nursing field thus helping them to humanize healthcare in general.
Choosing the Right School for You
When weighing the different nursing programs available to you, it’s important to ensure you’re choosing a school that has a partnership of some sort with a local healthcare facility. Many schools such as Berry College provide their nursing majors with real-world industry experience through both high-fidelity simulated hospital situations and hands-on clinical experience opportunities. Schools such as these truly recognize the importance of hands-on training within the nursing field and know that it’s required for their students to develop a solid educational foundation.
According to an article published by Build Your Future, students are far more likely to be productive and successful within their future roles when their education involves multiple learning styles. This allows the brain to form a stronger connection between concepts and to retain more of the information being taught and presented to the students.
When it comes to finding the right nursing school for you, it’s important to consider what the school’s nursing program will provide you with. If a nursing program is fully in-classroom education, then there may be better options available to you elsewhere. Finding a school that provides you with real-world clinical experience and allows you the opportunity to learn hands-on will help to better prepare you for your future nursing career both physically and mentally!