I'm beginning to feel that one of the reasons I struggle so hard to get my documentation done is that I am doing too much for my patients. For example, I did not get two of my systems assessments charted until after my shift had ended and I had given report. While I was charting my assessments, patients and family members kept coming to me with requests, because I was at the nurses station (lesson learned, if I have to stay late to chart, go hide somewhere where I won't be disturbed!).
Anyway; it seems that often I spend a lot more time getting warm blankets, doing linen changes, bringing snacks, etc., than I should be. I know the aides are busy, but frequently when a patient or family member has a request, since I am right there, I just do it. The thing is, I have three other patients whose meds are getting passed late because I took the time to do these things that can be delegated.
My charge nurse wanted report, so I told her I'd be right there after giving two medications. I went into the patient's room, and could not give the PO med because the patient had slid down to the end of their bed and could not sit up to swallow pills. I poked my head out and asked the aide who was there (not the aide assigned to this patient, who I saw maybe once the entire shift) to assist me to boost the patient. We went to boost and discovered the patient's linens were soaked, so we did a linen change and cleaned up the patient. Now, this patient was a turn Q2 and incontinent, and that info was clearly posted on the grease board, plus aides on our floor give each other report, so I know the aide assigned to this patient had the info even if I never had an opportunity to directly delegate (because I could never find her when I needed her).
While another nurse was at her meal break, I was covering her patients. A light came on, and I was busy so I waited for the aide to get it. The aide never came, and in fact, nobody was getting the light, so I interrupted what I was doing to go answer the light. The patient's family member had put it on because the patient had been incontinent and needed a gown and linen change and needed a brief put on. He told me (very politely) that I was the third person that he had told. I went to find the aide to assist me, and could not find her. I asked another aide, and it turns out that the aide (same one who was assigned the above patient) had gone on a meal break but had not told me. So I asked this one to help, and we did the linen and gown change and put the brief on the patient. In the meantime, I'm falling further and further behind.
Last example; I'm in the room to give a medication, and the family member shows me a small wet spot on the top sheet and the patient's gown. Since I'm there, I'll help. But the linen closet is empty, so I have to go down the hall to the linen room to get a new top sheet and gown, then go back to the patient's room to change them. I would have felt like a jerk to track down an aide to do this since I was right there, but at the same time, the few minutes this is taking me is a few more minutes that I'm falling behind.
I ended up staying a half hour late charting assessments that I had done at the beginning of my shift. I know I need to prioritize better, but I have a hard time prioritizing charting over direct patient care, and leaving patients uncomfortable until the aide can get to them, and tracking down the aide to do something that I can do since I'm right there. Plus, it seems that any time I sit down at a computer to chart, I am continually interrupted by requests from patients and their family members. They come out into the hall and ask the first person they see (me) for what it is that they need, instead of putting on the call light.
