Creating a Nurse's "Mobile Office"

[cjcsoon2bnp]

Nowadays it is not uncommon to see students who work or volunteer while in nursing school and nurses in practice who have more than one job or have returned to school to further their education. When trying to wear so many different hats, we are bound to slip up once in a while, and there are few things more embarrassing than showing up to work or school unprepared.

I cannot tell you how many times I have forgotten a piece of equipment (ID badge, stethoscope, reference guide, etc.) and it has completely thrown off my entire day. However, I know I am not alone and after a countless number of such blunders, I finally came up with the solution to this problem. My solution is the nurse's mobile office so that when I drive from one job to another or from teaching a class to being a student, I am fully prepared for any situation.

Some of this may seem like overkill, but if an instructor ever called you out because you were not fully prepared for a clinical or had to change your clothing mid-shift because of a massive explosion of a stranger's body fluids, then you might consider this to be valuable advice.

What is the mobile office and why do I need one?

In my mind,the mobile office is a mix between an emergency survival kit and a home office. When people think of a mobile office, they imagine someone in a power suit sitting in the back of a town car with a laptop, cell phone, and printer. However, while most nurses do not need that level of mobile business power it never hurts to have your essential supplies on hand at all times. What will distinguish this from just throwing a spare uniform in the back of your car is that this can be used to regularly store a variety of school and work items and what you put in the kit can be easily change to meet your needs on a daily, weekly or semester-by-semester basis.

How should I organize my mobile office and what things do I need to include?

How you decided to organize this will be up to you, as long as it meets your needs and remains functional then the sky is the limit. It can be as simple as having a spare gym bag or backpack in the backseat of your car or can be a covered storage bin that has divided sections for your different needs.

When designing this kit, you need to ask yourself the following questions

• How much space do I have in my vehicle?
• How many roles/positions do I need this for?
• Do you have one job or multiple jobs?
• Are you a student?
• Are you an educator?
• What do I need versus what would be nice to have?

Personally, I use a small plastic storage bin that I keep in the trunk of the car. Here is a list of what I pack in my kit, it may be more or less than what would meet your needs but could be a good starting point.

• Single change of clothing (spare work uniform, pair of socks and underwear, cheap shoes)
• Basic but functional stethoscope
• Cheap wristwatch
• 2 - 3 black pens
• $10-20 cash (hidden in the shoes)
• Spare phone charger
• Protein bar and bottle of water
• Three small/pocket references guides (diagnostic testing, pharmacology, and physical assessment)
• Small blank notepad
• Lab coat(either hung up on a rack or neatly folded in the box).
• (Add-In Items - Only As Needed)
• Specific textbooks (if I am going to the library or anticipate that I will need them)
• Spare laptop charger (I typically bring my laptop for anything related to school, I will usually pack the spare into my kit for long school days)

For some people, this may serve more for emergency purposes and only be opened or used when you are in need of backup equipment. For others, this can be a way to routinely organize things that are work or school related so that they do not get damaged, lost, moved, or mixed amongst groceries, shopping bags, or items belonging to your kids/family members.

So allnurses readers, tell me if you have a mobile office/survival kit and if so, what do you include in it?

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

First aid kit in the car has the extra medical supplies, like gloves, masks, basic stethoscope, BP cuff, bandages, tape, whistle, pencil & paper, etc.

In the winter, I carry a cloth grocery bag in the car with warm clothes, hats, gloves, mittens, warm socks, etc., and I also keep a blanket in the car.

Fat, waterproof folder in the car has extra blank charting forms. I work for three agencies, so that's a lot of forms. I carry at least enough to cover what I might need on my shift, plus extra physician's orders, nursing flowsheets, nurses' notes, and MARs for each agency.

Knapsack with a lot of pockets gets carried into the home (I do private duty/peds). In this I carry:

Flashlight and small fan with extra batteries, stethoscope

Pens, pencils, sharpie, highlighter, comb, nail clippers, flat sewing kit, baggie of gloves, facemasks, small calendar (yeah, I don't like it on my phone), small pad of paper, Post-it notes, ID badges, paper clips, Scotch tape and small hole puncher (to repair loose-leaf papers), a couple of folded plastic grocery bags

Thin, plastic folders, one for each agency, with any forms or instructions I might need.

Small pouch with thermometer, see-through plastic ruler, glass nail file, small screwdrivers (to replace batteries on the toys), eyeglass repair kit

I wear street clothes in the homes, and I choose clothes that are light-weight and wash easily. If ... something ... gets on my pants, I go in the bathroom, wash it out, wring it out with dry washcloths (that I carry) and put the pants right back on. Within an hour, they are dry. The wet washcloths go in a plastic grocery bag. I always have a few with me.

Baggie containing meds I might need (Check with the mom first; do her kids get into things?) If the knapsack isn't secure, I'll just carry meds in a fanny pack. There are a couple of meds that I really should keep with me, and not in the car.

My lunch goes in one of the pockets. I also carry a small container of my coffee mix (one part each coffee, cream, 'sugar', cocoa) and a spoon. I can heat up water and make a cup of coffee easily.

That is really prepared my friend! I should have anticipated that nurses in home health and VNS would have the "mobile office" down pat.

On a side note, I don't drink coffee but I really like your coffee mix idea. I might use it for chai tea or hot chocolate this winter.

!Chris