is your efficiency misinterpreted as lazy ?

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As long as you check in with co workers and everybody is on an even keel, especially on night shift, taking the downtime to learn or do quiet stuff like stock and tidy, it's really no big deal. Just always offer your free time to help first.

wooh, BSN, RN

1 Article; 4,383 Posts

When I was a nurse about as long as OP, I reached a point where I was very efficient. Even doing a lot of things that I could delegate to the techs (which I don't like doing if I don't have to, they're generally busier than I am in most cases) I'd learned to get everything done in a very timely way. And then I had a breakthrough in my nursing practice. I realized that I really was doing the bare minimum. There WERE things that could be done. Not stocking. Not cleaning the unit. Things for my patients. A big thing was checking the notes, really looking at the chart. And thinking through what needed to be done that wasn't. What was missed in the chaos that is patient care these days? It's made a big difference for my patients. Other things that I added to my repertoire as well. But that's a good place to start. Get good at that, get "efficient" with it, and you'll soon find other things. Then you end up being the experienced nurse on the floor that has to be efficient so you can keep up with what the new folks are doing and make sure they don't kill anybody.

Lovely_RN, MSN

1,122 Posts

I'm very efficient as well and what I've noticed is that there are two categories of efficient nurses. There are nurses who truly are efficient and then there are those who think they are but really they just leave a lot of work undone. As far as those nurses who complain that you are lazy because you finish your tasks quickly they too fall into two categories. There is the nurse who is truly overwhelmed and just works a bit slower than everyone else and then there is the the nurse who is disorganized.

Prime example. I worked with a nurse who always showed up late because she was coming from her other job. This woman was never less than 15-30mins late for every shift. When she finally made her appearance she would lolly-gag in the break room after getting report instead of immediately assessing her patients and entering some of her assessments into the computer. She would order dinner and go eat it about 10pm and then do her meds late. She took a 2 hour break every night because she was exhausted from working two jobs. In the mornings she would be groggy and routinely still be sitting at the computer charting 1-2 hours past her shift.

She was always the first to complain about a lack of teamwork but I refused to help her and would just hide after getting sucked up into her inefficiency a few times. Sorry but it's not fair if you arrive at work early or on time. It's not fair when you jump right to work and bust your butt while she shows up late and works as slow as molasses. I refused to help her out and stay past my shift because she wants to show up late and work slow. As long as the patient wasn't in danger I left it alone...sorry they got a bad nurse that shift but it happens.

Orion81RN

962 Posts

I think the down time you have could be better spent helping a nurse who's struggling, and help teach her/him your efficiency skills so they can get better and more efficient. This will have the added benefit of people not thinking you're lazy, and quite the opposite, look up to you. Share your knowledge fellow nurse!

joanna73, BSN, RN

4,767 Posts

Specializes in geriatrics.

Helping co-workers is great, but if someone is arriving late often, or falling behind because they take extended breaks, the Charge nurse should be alerted. Let them deal with that, as it is a performance issue. I will often help my coworkers, and the help is reciprocated. However, I have no interest helping someone who is chronically late or lazy. We all have a job to do.

amygarside

1,026 Posts

It is sad that some people would quickly jump to conclusion. Just because you are sitting down is already perceived as laziness. What if you are a fast worker? Nurses do not necessarily have to be on their feet all the time. Well, there will be people who will view you negatively whether you like it or not.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B

9 Articles; 4,800 Posts

I would offer to take another patient at report, or the first admit. I too have good time management, and am hyper organized. Sometimes the best laid plans do not come out as I would like them to, but able to roll with it, and retask myself, but that is the exception and not the rule. I would also offer to assist the aides with showering or bedbathing your patients, make sure you are on top of turning and repositioning every 2 hours for your total care patients, and you are printing up patient education and going over it with them. Assessing and re-assessing pain--all of that is important as well, and yes, night shift is different, but you should at least eyeball your patients every hour as opposed to just vitals and meds and you are all set.

If you find your floor not to be challenging enough, see about floating to the ER or IV team, rapid response team, or somewhere where you would feel constantly challenged and busier. Or to take on a project for the unit that you could do in your down time.

allnurses Guide

Hygiene Queen

2,232 Posts

I'm always hoping my laziness will be mistaken for efficiency.

Wow, you sound like me. Been an LPN for 17yrs and was always talked about because I had great time management skills.....

wow, maybe you are assuming they dont finish their job, I believe that if someone is not doin their job fully, it will be found out, I dont have to even speak on it!! especially when its not my place to judge

DrTinz

3 Posts

There's too much focus on activity and not enough attention paid to results. When I speak to and consult with organizations about energizing their workforce and increasing productivity I stress this.

Workaholics aren't addicted to work; they're addicted to activity.

We should be striving for efficiency, not busyness.

Well I work nights and some shifts are easy. many are not! i am pretty efficient but i come in and get 2-3 admissions , or worse!, needy post ops. constant ringing, pain and nause meds, vitals that need to be reported, insulin drils, have had wounds that literally take 1hr to change (often enough). turn and repos and cdiff incontinent pts. on and on and on. oh now someone threw up and needs assist witha partial bed bath, now another one's bp is 70/45. this stuff is a pretty typical shift. i work med surg and we get 5-6pts. and have had 4 admissions in one shift many times

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