HOW I ORGANIZE MY START OF SHIFT AS A NEW NURSE! 👩🏼⚕️
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So I still have so much to learn, but after a few months, I finally figured out what works best for me to organize & prioritize my shift! I think?
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I always start out by printing off our nursing hand-off sheets - we make these/update these for the next crew that’s coming in. (Labs, tests, background blurbs, important things).
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Then I highlight my patient’s name, their code status, and their allergies. I get report from the off-going nurse, disinfect my WOW, and make sure I update my phone #.
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While I’m waiting in line for the Pyxis to pull my morning meds, I write these areas under each of my patient’s paper: chem stick, tele, required documentation, care plan note, assessment (N, C, GI/GU, I, M), trach/vent?, wounds, new orders, labs.
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After I organize my papers/before pulling meds, I review physician’s notes, acknowledge any new or discontinued orders, and I write down important lab values/tests and recent VS. For instance, if my patient’s hemoglobin is 6 and he’s on a Heparin drip, I’m going to want to investigate that further. I’m going to want to write down his last pTT value, read notes from consults, etc. Maybe he has a hx of valve replacements but also has a GI bleed? Sum up the story.
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I then rank each patient by priority by asking myself basic questions: which patient is most stable and can wait? Which patient has had a change in status overnight/day shift? Who is going to take the longest (as you can see from this picture, some of my patient’s have a ton of meds). And which patients need their meds to be given right away or soon? For example, if my patient’s chem stick is 300 and is on a sliding scale and breakfast is coming, they are going to need their insulin. Then I rank each patient knowing very well that nothing ever goes as planned ☺️ because #coronavirus and my floor can get pretty crazy fast! 🤪 * I’ll write a post about how I give report soon! 🥰 stay well 🩺
Im exaaaausted but staying positive. I think at least. Right?
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The other day I practically left work in tears. I’ve been with my preceptor for seven weeks now, and I’m really impressed that I’ve lasted this long to have “that” moment where I literally sat in my car after my overnight shift and was like what the f*ck just happened? I wanted to burst into tears.
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I’m so blessed to have such an amazing preceptor, but at this point, I’m pretty much on my own 😳 (I’ll be completely by myself the 1st of May!) I work on a predominately respiratory floor, and between the countless people being admitted for possible COVID and confirmed, it’s overwhelming. How can it not be? How could you not pretend to be worried about touching and caring for a patient where one wrong move, one wrong turn of your hand as you take off your gloves, your face masks, or your gown and you could possibly be bringing it home. Our PPE is running so low! Today all I heard was every patient’s room filled with the news, my ears fine-tuning on the death toll of physicians and nurses.
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Really I love doing this. So much. But I also need to realize I’m human. The first time I put a patient in a body bag, I didn’t fully grasp it. It didn’t phase me like I thought it would. Maybe you need that to be in this field? I’m human though. I get scared. I cry. I worry. I hurt. We all do.
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Not for the faint of the ♥️ but my gosh, seeing people get better - most rewarding thing ever.
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And even if today I didn’t save the world at work, and maybe the only heroic thing I did today was smash my elbow into the door rushing to my patient’s side because his bed alarm went off and he thought it would be a good idea to get out of bed without my help. I still feel like I made a difference.
