Community Clinical Journals: Flu Shots

Community Clinical Journals: Flu Shots

Mason J. Suchora

Department of Nursing, Youngstown State University

NURS 3710L; Community Clinical

Professor Randi L. Heasley, MSN, RN, CNE

October 14, 2021

Demonstrate skills mastery in delivering nursing care in the home and community setting
Community Clinical Journals: Flu Shots

This week during my community clinical rotation I was able to give shots at Trumbull

Memorial Hospital. This was honestly very fun and educational for me for several reasons. I was

able to master the skill of giving a flu shot, got to see many different departments, and got to see

a new hospital. Getting to give shots repeatedly really helped me master this skill as it’s not one

you get to do everyday. Learning that with a one inch needle you can really go all the way, and

with a one and a half in needle you shouldn’t because it can cause pain was discussed. Also we

reviewed that you deliver the shot three finger widths down from the Acromion process. The

nurse giving the shots with us also gave me little tips like how to put the bandaid on easier by

putting it on prior to administering the shot. I really enjoyed getting to give them back to back

because repetition helps the mastery of a skill.

Getting to see all of the different departments was also really cool. We got to go to all the

floors in the hospital, and see if anyone needed shots. During this time I was trying to observe

the differences in the floors. Seeing how in the emergency room it’s very spaced out and very

tense compared to a general health floor that’s more relaxed was interesting. I also was able to

see a difference in the nurses on the floors. Those that were on the higher risk floors such as

covid floors or in the emergency room were much more intense and really didn’t want to talk.

They just wanted to get their work done and move on. The nurses on the less stressful floors

were willing to talk to us, and see what was going on with our day.

One of the things I didn’t expect to see was the psychiatric unit. This is really not a style

of nursing I enjoy because it’s just creepy to me. I actually got to see some of the people that

were inside which gave me a little bit of anxiety because that kind of stuff tends to creep me out

a bit. However the nurse we were with talked to us about the psychiatric unit, and how she’s not
Community Clinical Journals: Flu Shots

really a fan of it either. It was interesting to see how it’s the only unit that you need to badge in

twice to get into so people can’t get in or out very easily. She was also telling us about some of

the precautions that need to be taken while being in the psychiatric unit. You need to check

behind you before you leave because the patients like to sneak behind you and try to get out. You

shouldn’t carry around pens out in the open because sometimes they try to take them and harm

you. You also shouldn’t cross your arms while speaking to them because it makes the patients

feel like you’re being closed off to them. This was all new material to me so I found it very

interesting, but still very forgien and a little creepy.

This hospital was a little different compared to the ones that I’ve had clinical at. It

seemed to be a little older, and more behind in a technology standpoint. Some of the patients of

the hospital even told us as they were leaving that they would rather be at Saint Elizabeth’s

rather than Trumbull which I found very odd since they chose to go to Trumbull. Now with that

being said I didn’t think it was a bad hospital everyone was nice and seemed to be getting a lot of

work done. Just at first glance it seemed to be much different than what I am used to seeing in

my other clinicals.

However I found this to be a very good clinical for mastering my ability to give shots. I

was already pretty comfortable doing them, however getting to watch people who have done it

for years you always will learn new tricks. That seems to be my favorite part about the

community clinicals. A lot of these nurses have been doing it for so long they just teach you all

kinds of information which I think is so cool.