Clinical Cheat Sheet

[casi, ASN, RN]

For this upcoming semester I'm doing Med-Surg clinicals and I came up with the idea of having a generic cheat sheet to keep in my clipboard that has useful information so I'm not constantly running to textbooks during clinicals.

I was just wondering what kinds of things people would suggest putting on it.

I was thinking common labs like CBC, Urine Analysis, Chem Profile. Just puting normal ranges, critical values, and a basic what the test means.

Then some assessment stuff that I tend to forget such as descriptions of abnormal/normal heart and lung sounds, what various pitting edemas are.

I'm not too sure what else to add to this. I've toyed with the idea of common meds, but I think when it comes to meds running to the drug books is a better idea.

[ocb_dave_ocb, LPN]

Are you in RN or LPN school I bought a book called LPN notes it has been so helpfull maybe you should look into it. You can get it for RN or LPN. I think I got mine from Amazon.. There is actually one called MEDSURG notes to...

[natrgrrl]

Most of the time during clinicals last year, I felt lost, like I should know what everything means but had no clue. So I have been thinking all summer about what would make my day go more smoothly this year. One thing that I think will really help me out is to have medication cheat sheets with me. So I went to the book store and found Nurses Med Deck.

Basically, it's just each drug listed just like in the med book, but on it's own separate piece of paper. Now, when I go to prelab, I can write down the drugs I will need and just take those cards with me. The bad thing about them is that they seem so fragile and not every drug is in there. They do come with a carrying case that holds about 30 cards.

I wish I could think of some other "cheat sheet" ideas but that is all I have come up with. Hopefully, a lot of people will post an answer because then we can all get some good ideas.

[Music in My Heart]

Are you in RN or LPN school I bought a book called LPN notes it has been so helpfull maybe you should look into it. You can get it for RN or LPN. I think I got mine from Amazon.. There is actually one called MEDSURG notes to...

I second RNotes. If I didn't have an electronic copy in my PDA then I'd have this book in my clipboard case.

Through 2 semesters of med-surg clinicals I've come across such a varied array of situations and cases that it's tough to come up with a core set of information for a single sheet. This book is great.

[casi, ASN, RN]

Sweet! I'll go check out RN notes. It will definately save me a lot of work and let me enjoy the rest of my summer.

[bimmersbabe]

I agree with the above posters, I also have the med/surg notes, med notes, and NCLEX-RN notes - they are convenient you can stuff them in your purse and be able to study any where. Full of valuable info.

[LMRN10]

I second RNotes. If I didn't have an electronic copy in my PDA then I'd have this book in my clipboard case.

Through 2 semesters of med-surg clinicals I've come across such a varied array of situations and cases that it's tough to come up with a core set of information for a single sheet. This book is great.

Where did you get the PDA version? Or is it the Med-Surg version? I see that one on Skyscape...

Disregard...I found it. I was typing it in wrong!

[casi, ASN, RN]

Thanks all I ran out to Barns and Noble (it's my day off and I was bored) and looked through all the pocket guides. I ended up getting the RNotes as it seemed to have the most useful information.

[jcox121]

i see you all like rn notes. has anyone used mosbys pdq for rn? which is better?

[2BoysCallMeMom]

RNotes looks amazing! Thanks for posting this, as I had never thought about having a "cheat" sheet to minimize what I would need there.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

i made my own cheat sheets and report sheets for years. the first one i made had to do with treating chest pain when i was working on a medical unit that got telemetry patients. i still have it. i also have sheets with the symptoms of hypoglycemia and some of the arrhythmias (i worked on a stepdown unit for some years where we had telemetry). the actual report sheets that i created to use had the extension numbers of the departments in the hospital i was calling all the time or doctors i was having to call a lot so i didn't have to stop to look them up all the time. as a staff nurse i carried around my own clipboard (i still have them) that had all kinds of goodies on it. my clipboards (i have 2) have my charting guidelines for insertion of a picc line and a copy of the iv flush policy when i was an iv therapist, a guide that i created years ago to mark the time strips of 1000ml and 500ml iv bags for just about any infusion rate a doctor could order, a nifty one page head-to-toe assessment guide that one hospital gave all us nurses, the instruction booklet from a box of tubular bandnet that tells you all the ways to wrap the stockinet on every part of the human body to hold a dressing in place without using tape, and a nifty plastic ruler i got for free from one of the drug company reps. you might find some useful information on the student clinical report sheet for one patient posted at the bottom of all my posts. the last time i was a patient i noticed that each of the rns carried around one-half inch thick 3-ring notebooks rather than clipboards and i asked them about this. this kept things more confidential than carrying around a clipboard. they kept each of their assigned patient's computer generated kardexes and mars in them. some rns also had personal stuff in their notebook. some had lab values, copies of certain hospital policies, procedures and protocols. one rn had a few pages with pictures of her kids.

no one expects you to remember everything. i worked with one nurse who would come into report with vital signs written in ink all over her hands and arms! it was safer than depending on her memory. i used to paste important lab values and therapeutic drug levels on the back of my employee badge for quick reference.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

I made a form that I could write simple information on 1/2 sheet of paper so I would know what was going on with each patient. On the form I usually had the following:

-Patient room, initials, Drs and staff nurse

-diagnosis and plan for day for patient.

vital signs blanks for whichever times we would be at clinical, one touches

-Abnormal labs

-Brp/activity status and foley/incontinence issues.

-Anything special care/procedures/sx/etc going on that day.

-new orders written by doctors and when they were ordered.

(we were to chart 2 times per shift and write a note one time during shift, so I made a mark throughout the day in 4 hr intervals if I had the charting and note done).

Any abnormal assessment information from previous shift.

hope that helps.