Benefits of Placement

An placement is an opportunity to gain practical experience in an occupation you may be considering. It can be a beneficial way to learn if a specific field you're interested in is one you want to pursue as a career. Undergraduate and graduate students often complete placements during their college programs. When serving in an placement, students often aren't yet ready to pursue this position as a full-time career.

Nursing student placements and practicums take place in a healthcare setting, where students can gain the experience, they need to succeed in their future careers. Potential placement settings include hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, and nursing homes. Nursing schools help place students in an placement or practicum environment that suits their academic needs and career goals.

Nursing school is responsible for covering the basics for all kinds of nursing. Nursing placements can give you the skills that you can only learn through experience, such as time management and conflict resolution. An placement is usually administered by a hospital, where you will work alongside a particular nurse and learn the ropes. This usually happens during the last 6 months during the 4th year of your Basic B. Sc nursing studies. The benefits of participating in these types of programs are abundant, but the spaces are usually limited.

Advantage 1: Explore a Specialty

Nursing placements usually take place in a specific hospital in a specific unit. You will get to know the ins and outs of that specialty and see if it is where you see yourself in the future. Additionally, placements in some areas can help you get the job you want. If you get an placement in the ICU for example, you may be considered for a position in the ICU, where other new graduates wouldn't even get a second glance. Thus, an placement will, at the very least, allow you to familiarize yourself with the acute care environment. The experience also may help you home in on what specialties and settings interest you.

Advantage 2: The Hospital Gets to See You in Action

Hospitals are also interested in placement postings so as to hire better trained nurses; so you become their potential employees. They want their interns to be a part of their long-term staff, so if you are a great intern, they will hire you on the spot, which saves you from searching for a job as a new graduate. It is also great for the hospital because they can hire a new graduate who has already been trained in their facility.

Advantage 3: Experience is the Best Teacher

Things you didn't learn in institute will be your everyday learning practice. These include disorders you couldn’t see during your clinical postings, medications you never addressed and mental health problems demonstrated in vivid reality. Your competencies and knowledge will grow tremendously under a nurse clinician. Additionally, nursing placements can help ease the transition from nursing school to real life nursing because you have a better idea of what to expect regarding your day-to-day responsibilities. Nurses usually volunteer to be preceptors, and they gladly share their know-how, while promoting a safe space for learning. Anytime there is a learning experience on the unit, preceptors will try to get you involved in some way or allow you to observe. At the end of your placement, if you have done well, the nurse preceptor could end up being a great reference for your future job pursuits

Advantage 4: Put Experience on Your Resume

At graduation time, all hospitals prepare themselves for the new wave of graduates looking for jobs. A nursing placement on your résumé, especially in an area in which you are applying, can help you get the job you want. New graduate spots can be difficult to find, so a nursing externship can help get your foot in the door.

Now is the time for nursing students to start researching and applying for summer placements. Peers and classmates who have participated in placements may tell you they offer experiences and knowledge you may not get in your clinicals or through classroom lectures, and they’re right. In school, you probably will not witness a patient’s progression of care, while during an placement, you’re likely to observe a more holistic picture of patients as you work alongside a practicing nurse.

Advantage 5: You will practice interprofessional collaboration skills

– During the placement, you will have the opportunity to give report, join huddles, and work with physical and occupational therapists and pharmacists. Working with a broader healthcare team has helped me to understand each profession’s roles and responsibilities.

Advantage 5: Comprehensive and collaborative care

You will be able to apply knowledge from physical, biological, and behavioural sciences, medicine including alternative systems and nursing in providing nursing care to individuals, families and communities.You will be able to provide promotive, preventive, curative, and restorative health services in line with the National health policies and programs. You will have critical thinking skills in decision making in all situations and will utilize the latest trends and technologies to provide quality health care. You will recognize the need for continued learning for their personal and professional development.You will be able to minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance.You will be able to function effectively within nursing and interdisciplinary teams for providing quality patient care.

In your clinicals, go above and beyond what is expected of you as a student. Inquire if staff needs assistance or if you can observe during special procedures or patient care. A recommendation from a clinical instructor or nurse preceptor is usually required with an placement application, so make sure your faculty and preceptor are familiar with you and what you’re capable of.

Know your strengths and weaknesses in the clinical setting. Be ready to explain the details of your clinical experiences on an application and to answer questions about how your patient care has benefited others or how you overcame difficult situations in the clinical setting.

Teamwork in healthcare is essential. When you are being interviewed, you should talk about your clinical experiences as a member of the healthcare team.

As a nursing student, it is important that you get involved in your school organization. Participate in community service activities, school improvement committees, school program initiatives or volunteer abroad. And make sure your resume and placement application reflects what you have learned.

So, it is highly recommended that you start looking for placements right away. You need experience to get experience. This seems to be the biggest issue for young adults transitioning into the workforce these days.Employers in today's labor market rely heavily on resumes that illustrate a relevant work history, whether that's from placements, volunteer work, or actual job experience.A practical work background carries a major significance when attempting to enter the job market. It's all about competition.Even your buddy who graduated with you in college has become your competitor.Take a moment and think about it. If you're looking to gain experience, working as an intern is arguably the most advantageous plan of action.That one placement you did over summer could be the difference between winning a job opportunity or losing it.