mobey Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) And I suppose handing out food trays, doing runs to the lab, and Transports to the floors are a routing part of the EMT's job. HEY .... Read your own post! How many times a day are / were you asked to make beds, or assist with toileting the patients while on clinicals? As a matter of fact... depending on where these students go to work they may in fact do any one of these duties... and many, many more. Mine as well get your hands dirty in all aspects of health care. One born every minute one what? Edited April 14, 2009 by EMT City Administrator ATTACK REMOVED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott33 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Sooo.... instead of having several interactions with a variety of patients each with thier own challenges (speech, hearing, language, etc) You want them to sit for hours and interview 1 or 2 people?? What skills does that teach? .... How to interview that one person The "S" in my wording patients suggests that I was hinting at interviewing more than one. Now you are just clutching at straws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS49393 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 That is it! I've had it! I refuse to EVER toilet another one of my patients. I'll just let them crap all over the cot. I have an EMT, they can clean it up. As for the patients that are covered in crap or vomit, tough. I'm going to have my EMT wrap them in a sheet and throw them on the stretcher for transport. Next time, don't crap on yourself. Apparently I'm working too hard trying to do right by my patients and my team. I'm open to any more suggestions about what is NOT my job so I can go to work tomorrow and have the easiest day in my career. Sad to say, but you Sir, are pompous. I bet everyone is just chomping at the bit to work with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott33 Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) That is it! I've had it! I refuse to EVER toilet another one of my patients. I'll just let them crap all over the cot. I have an EMT, they can clean it up. As for the patients that are covered in crap or vomit, tough. I'm going to have my EMT wrap them in a sheet and throw them on the stretcher for transport. Next time, don't crap on yourself. Apparently I'm working too hard trying to do right by my patients and my team. I'm open to any more suggestions about what is NOT my job so I can go to work tomorrow and have the easiest day in my career. Sad to say, but you Sir, are pompous. I bet everyone is just chomping at the bit to work with you. And still the personal slurs keep coming. Always a sign of someone losing an argument though isn't it? You and several others clearly have no idea of what I am getting at here. No idea whatsoever, and no idea of who's side I am really taking. I think some people are now just arguing for arguments sake, I can only assume that raw nerves have been touched. I am surprised that no one can see the obvious here. That is, given the sound bite that is clinical time for the EMT, there should be little or no dogsbody work. I haven't said none whatsoever, but it should be proportional to what you are there for. You are there to learn and practice certain key skills; chiefly history taking, and vital signs, and to a smaller (much smaller) degree, get an overview of how the ED functions after you have dropped off your patient. I have tried to be subtle about it, but in many cases the EMT student is seen as a thorn in the side of many nurses, not that I share that opinion. Some of them will pounce on the opportunity to use the extra pair of hands in every aspect other than what they are supposed to. I know how clinical works, and I know the most important thing for many a student is the signature on the clinical form, anything else is gravy. So why should it matter what they do on their rotation? I get it! I always thought things were a little backwards in NY EMS. Now I am grateful to have gone through 3 separate EMS programs, in which the staff made the clinical expectations crystal clear to both student, and healthcare facility. I suppose there are also schools out there that have students lifting the patients too? But that’s another argument Edited April 14, 2009 by scott33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubanurse Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I think this topic has deviated severely from the intended topic... maybe a mod can close it or help re-direct it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tskstorm Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I think this topic has deviated severely from the intended topic... maybe a mod can close it or help re-direct it? It is all still about clinical experiences and expectations. This is probably exactly what most students need to understand. I'm going to have to agree with Scott, your time in your clinicals is about your experience with patients, the idea of doing clinicals in the ED is you will see more patients in the ED in 8 hours than you will see in an ambulance. The idea is more patient contact = more exposure = better provider. Having just finished about 300 hours of clinical time in the ED over the past 2 years(Medic school), I can't recall being asked to make a bed, or bring food to a patient etc. I would attribute that in part to choosing Doctors as my preceptors not Nurses, we fortunately have the choice of who precepts us. I was johnny on the spot when it was time to practice my psychomotor skills (IV's & EKG's not toileting and changing sheets) and in turn The doctors, even the nurses would always come find me if an interesting procedure was being done, or if there was something they think I hadn't seen. I also know the Flip side of the coin as I precept EMT students on my ambulance, I don't ask them to carry my bags, make my stretcher, empty my garbage etc.... I tell them to take vital signs and lung sounds on every patient, ask the patient as many questions as they can think of, and to treat the patient best they can, and I'll help them out as they go. I want them to learn the reality of the concepts they learned in class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkytomtom Posted May 24, 2009 Author Share Posted May 24, 2009 Wow, I just re-stumbled upon this thread...leave it to the internet to create consensus right? Well for the record my clinical time was a blast, and I am now an EMT basic. I can see both sides of this argument. I wanted to be helpful as possible, so I went even so far as to clean up a couple of rooms after the pt had been discharged, I imagine this actually falls under the job description of the janitor. But, it WAS noticed, and at the end of my shift, a couple of the nurses and the EMT I worked with asked me for my name so they could write it down and put in a good word for me if it was ever needed. That said, MOST of my time was spent actually doing things, and I would have been very frustrated if I felt that I was being taken advantage of to do things like make beds. I think it is obviously valuable to get medical experience during your clinical time, but if you have some down time, showing that you're part of the team and not "above" anyone else will certainly gain you some credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tskstorm Posted May 24, 2009 Share Posted May 24, 2009 Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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