In this instructional vlog, the presenter walks nursing students through every item they should bring to clinical rotations and offers practical organization tips. She begins by promoting a free downloadable clinical supplies checklist, then details the core components of a clinical bag: a reliable backpack (or separate bags for lecture and clinical), a complete uniform with school patch, an affordable MDF stethoscope, a waterproof watch, a pen light with spare batteries, writing tools (highlighter, Sharpie, pens), a pocket organizer, and a Davis Drug Guide enhanced with flag tabs for quick medication lookup. She stresses keeping clinical paperwork in a dedicated binder separate from lecture materials, staying hydrated with a Hydro Flask vacuum bottle, and packing nutritious snacks and a simple lunch (e.g., bagel‑cream‑cheese bites, granola bars, bananas). Throughout, she shares personal product preferences, emphasizes preparation before the first clinical day, and encourages viewers to subscribe for future note‑taking tutorials.
Chapters
So in this video, I'm going to go through all the things that you absolutely have to have for Clinical. But I also want you to know that I have all of this listed out on a free cheat sheet for you that you can download. So the link is down below for you to check it out. It's a whole clinical supplies checklist, so make sure to download it, print it off, so you do not forget anything that you have to bring to Clinical. Now hit that subscribe button, click the notification bell, and let's dive in. So the first thing I absolutely recommend that you get for nursing school, clinicals school in general, but also just clinical. It's just a backpack. I use this one and I actually use this one both for clinical and for nursing school. I did flip things back and forth. Sometimes it can be helpful to get a totally separate bag for clinical. That way you have like one for lecture, one for clinical, and you don't have to move stuff around between the two. But for me personally, I did use just the same one one oftentimes. I really, really like this bag, like a lot. So I, I don't know what it is about it, but I've had it for years. It is just held up for me. So I really like it. It's super comfy. It's a north face, so there you go. I just like it. So it's got all the pockets, place for water bottle, which we'll talk about later. And I just kept all my stuff in it for clinical. So I would go back and forth, I would use it for lecture. Then after lecture I would take out all the binders and stuff that I had for and put my clinical stuff inside of this one. And then I would go to clinical. So like I said, if it works better for you, you can have two separate bags. Totally fine. That actually is probably easier because then you wouldn't have to like go back and forth. But for me personally, I just like this bag too much. I just moved things back and forth. So it's the first thing you absolutely have to have is a backpack or a bag or something like that you could just take with you, put all of your supplies inside so you know you have everything. Now the next thing that you absolutely have to have is of course your nursing school uniform, your scrubs or whatever you have to wear to clinical. Top pants and shoes, my friends and socks. Depending on your school, your school might have a preference for shoe color, sock color. Obviously you'll have like a school uniform with your school colors most likely and your Patch. This one doesn't have a patch, but make sure that you have your school patch on it or whatever they want you to put on your scrubs to identify you as a student and that you go to that school. So make sure that your uniform is prepared before you start clinicals. Just make sure that you sew on that patch or, you know, however it needs to be done, even before school starts, can be really handy that way, everything is ready for you. For clinical, the next big, big thing that you have to have is stethoscope. Now, I know a lot of people use Littman stethoscopes. Totally fine. For me, personally, I did not. I had a Litman, didn't really like it too much. MDF is what I stuck with. And honestly, I love it. This one is an MDF stethoscope, hot pink. You can find it on Amazon. I think that might have been where I bought it. I love it. I have had no issues with it at all and I just think it's really comfortable and it's always been super handy. And it's like a fraction of the price of a Littman stethoscope. So if you are looking for a less expensive alternative to a Litman, MDF is the way to go. I have had no issues with it and they come in such pretty colors, so I love it. Now, the next series of things, I just want to go through my organizer here because everything is already inside of it. So you absolutely need a watch. If you're checking heart rate, respiratory rate, all the things. Make sure that you have an accurate watch that can track time really well, obviously is what a watch does. So make sure you have a good watch. Make sure it's waterproof. If you're keeping it on your wrist, you're gonna be washing your hands again and again and again. Make sure that you have a watch that's not going to, like deteriorate over time or something. I really liked this one, I think. I don't know, it's like silicone or plastic something, and it's always held up for me. So I like this one. Pen light. Make sure that you have a pen light. These can come pretty cheap on Amazon. I think they come in like packs too. So I mean, they're just not expensive. Make sure that you have one. And also extra batteries. I liked this organizer. Just wear it on my hip because I can keep everything here. And I would also, in this pocket here, I would have extra batteries. I. Of course, I don't right now, but I would have extra Batteries in there just in case my pen light ran out of batteries. And the next thing I have in here is a highlighter, a Sharpie and pens. I like having all three of these things because you never know if you're gonna need to label like a wound or IV or anything. And then highlighters. I like to highlight my brain sheets and then of course, pens to write and write and write all the things down for your documentation. And you will lose pens constantly on the clinical floor. It's just, it happens. As a matter of fact, it's like losing socks in a dryer. It's just a thing like you will lose pens on a clinical floor. So this is how I organize my little pocket organizer. This actually, what is this? I have a feeling it's like a prestige one. I don't even know the brand. But you can find this on Amazon. I will try to link everything down below for you if I can find them. But I really, really like this because it just keeps everything super handy and in one place. Now the next thing we'll talk about is the Davis Drug Guide. I get a lot of comments on this from nursing students. I do take it to clinical with me. I did take it to clinical with me every single day. I constantly looked up medic. Even now I still do as a nurse, constantly look up medications. And I just find the Davis Drug Guide to be super easy and super user friendly. So I know there's a whole bunch of other drug guides out there, but this is the one that I recommend. It's my preference. So this is the one that I recommend that students use because I love it. I've gotten some comments on how I tab my Davis Start guide. You can just buy these like little sticky post it note tabs. They're just like little flags just so. Like an office store like Staples or Office Depot or Office Max, if those still exist. I don't even know Fred Meyer Kroger. Somewhere you can find these little flag tabs. And that's what I use. I write the name of the medication on the flag so I know I could just flip through. Like this is acetaminophen, Tylenol, like super easy. So they're all labeled like the most common medications that I give them. The floor, it just made it super convenient so I didn't have to like remember page numbers or think about where things were. Like try to find them really quick. I would just get to go to the tab. Makes it super easy. So this is the drug guide that I recommend. Davis Drug Guide and we do have some other videos on it that I have done on this book before and how to use it. So make sure you check those videos out. Now the next one is all of your clinical stuff, all of your clinical information, your clinical assignments, any care plans you have to do, any papers you have to do on your patients. I like to bring just a small binder, this is just like half an inch inch binder and put all of the clinical paperwork that you need. Like I've got brain sheets in here, extra ones. I have my clinical evaluations, things like this, this is my clinical binder. This is like legit my clinical binder for nursing school. And I would just keep all of my evaluation forms, like all the assignments I had to. I'm just flipping through this really quick to see all what's in it. This is fun. And just extra brain sheets and things like that. All of my, like my syllabus, all the criteria for care plans, it's all in here. So you just keep all of your clinical paperwork in one binder. I didn't like and I don't recommend that you keep clinical paperwork and lecture paperwork in the same binder. I think it's really important to separate those two. So you have like one lecture binder and a clinical binder. That way you can keep separate because things will be different for clinical than what you need for lecture and you'll need different things for both places. And I just really, really like to keep everything separate in a separate clinical binder. So that worked best for me. It was how I was able to stay really, really organized. Now next of course is a water bottle. Absolutely do not count on a drinking fountain water in the fridge. Whatever your clinical facility has, make sure that you bring a water bott that you can keep on the floor with you because you will be super thirsty from running around all day long. I really want you to stay hydrated because of course not only do you have clinical, but then you also have lecture and all the things you've got to stay healthy in nursing school. So make sure that you are drinking lots of water when you are on the clinical floor. Now this is my favorite. It's hydro flask. This is one of those vacuum sealed fancy ones. And of course it's pink. Come on. So keeps drinks cold and keeps drinks hot, you know, whichever you do. So if it's a hot coffee, it keeps it hot for a long time. If it's a cold drink, it keeps it cold for a long time, which I really, really liked. And you can just Refill it again and again. So make sure that you bring a water bottle with you on the floor and the next one, snacks, of course. And a lunch, which I didn't like. Bring a whole lunch here to show you you know, what a lunch looks like. Bring a big lunch because hopefully you get a break for lunch, but also have snacks because sometimes you might not have a whole lot of time to eat a full lunch during clinical. So I like to bring two of my favorites, banana and granola bars. Actually, this is a Kroger one. I like the Nature Valley ones. Peanut butter. I really like them. So those are my favorite. I also, for me personally love bagels and cream cheese. And I think they're really convenient as a snack because I would actually just break them up into little like bagel cream cheese bites and just eat them out of a Ziploc bag all day. That's what I would do in nursing school. So in lieu of like a full lunch, I would just eat like bagel cream cheese bites all day. I would like make a bagel and cream cheese and then break it all up, keep it in a Ziploc bag. And then that would be my lunch for the day. And I would just eat, just eat it throughout the day along with any snacks that I bought. I was notorious for bringing too much food. Like, I bring too much food everywhere. I love food. So make sure that you pack your snacks, pack your water, pack your lunch, have food there because you will get so hungry and so thirsty on the clinical floor. It will just happen. Clinical is exhausting. Like, you are thinking about things. You're taking care of patients. You've got not only like the emotional and mental energy, but you have the physical energy that you have to expend as well. So it's a lot. So make sure that you are staying hydrated and staying fed during clinicals. In the next video, I'm going to walk you through how to take notes in nursing school. This is step by step how to do it. So take effective notes so that you can do better on your exams and not only that, but also on your finals. So do not miss out on that video. And be sure to, like, comment, subscribe and share this video with a friend who you're also going to nursing school with who needs to know this whole list of things to bring. Make sure to share it with a friend and click on one of these videos right over here so you can keep rocking nursing school and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. I'll catch you in the next video, my friend. Take care. Bye bye.
