I know it's been asked many times before "how can I time manage better as a new grad?". However, I have been off orientation for 6 months and have addressed by my supervisor about my frequent overtimes. (Sometimes it's 15 minutes, sometimes it's an hour). It is hard for me, because I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
I work nights, and this is definitely a down fall, because at least at my hospital:
1. We have no attendings. I must call and wake up my doctor if I need anything.
2. Our pharmacy closes at midnight, so if it's not pre-made, I have to mix it.
3. We write down all of our vitals onto a 24-hour flowsheet, which can be tedious.
4. We have no CNAs or lift teams, so I am dependent on other nurses or my charge to help me turn, move up in bed, or give baths if they're not busy.
- This is especially bad if I get stuck on a shift with either a lot of crictical and busy
patients, or when I (as happens frequently on night shifts) have lazy nurses or
charges who don't feel obligated to help me - lest they fall behind or don't get to go
on 2-3 smoke breaks.
5. As I've heard with most places, there is a lot of tension between day and night nurses. Though it's assumed that day shifts are busy, when our unit has had 3 critical admits and we're putting in orders for one another and calling codes, I still get flack for not having done a bath, or labeling all of my lines.
The day shift nurses have immediate access to supervisors, which means if they have a complaint, then they get told immediately, where as night shift nurses have to fill out online complaints that are more hassle than helpful.
While all the night ICCU nurses face the same difficulties, I am getting more overtime than almost anybody else. Granted, I am one of two new grads and nights, and the other new-grad and I do not work together very much, but I need help.
Advice? Strategies? Methods? Any words of wisdom is appreciated. I'm just 6 months in and should be so much better by now!
