Average day in the life of a nurse

havehope · Jul 14, 2011

I look forward to reading the replies you get! I'm in the same boat as you! If you decide to go on to be a nurse, good luck to you!!

mcleanl · Jul 14, 2011

I work in a Surgical trauma ICU...7am to 7pm.

Here is a typical, uncomplicated day.

I have 2 patients, I start the day by getting report from the night nurse.

I do a full and complete assessment on both patients first thing in the morning and then every four hours thereafter (but I am always looking for changes and watching trends).

I chart vital signs every hour on the hour and whenever there is an abnormailty.....and adjust medication as neccessary.

I monitor everything the patient takes in and puts out every hour.

I turn the patients every two hours and reposition as necessary. I change linens at least once a shift.

I clean and provide incontinent care whenever the patient has soiled......sometimes this is multiple times a shift

I do mouth care on all ventilated patients every 2 hours.

I send off labs as ordered and check results......this can be as frequently as every hour.

I do wound care.

Most patients get accuchecks at least every six hours if not more...

In addition to charting vital signs every hour, I fill out 10 pages of check lists every four hours for assessment purposes....plus I have to write a narrative note every two hours or whenever anything out of the ordinary comes about.

I call the doctors for anything abnormal, and follow through on any orders.

I give medications as ordered .......in the ICU sometimes these medications are continious.

I update families...multiple times per shift and attend to their needs.

I attend rounds with the doctors for my patients.

Unless the patient is on deaths door.....almost all of our patients, vented and otherwise get up to a chair at least once on day shift. Sometimes it will take 5 or 6 nurses to accomplish this task alone.

I sign all the orders off, that are written by the doctor and make sure the orders have been entered into the computer.

I update PT/OT, pharmacy, case management as the need may be.

This is a snippet of what my day entails.

There is not enough space to write what I do on a complicated day!

tele jelly · Jul 14, 2011

Get to work, get report, pull my morning meds, check labs and vitals, pass meds and assess each pt, chart.

But in the mean time I have a working list in my head of who called for pain meds, need to prep pt x for surgery, page the doc bc pressure is too high, clarify a med for pharmacy, ask the care coordinator where we are with the home o2 so I can discharge pt y, new admission from er is unstable, family has a question, family is mad, pt needs support, pt x needs to be turned, more pain meds, IV beeping in room 500, order for blood transfusion .......

Multi tasking! Critical thinking! Autonomy!

Rinse and repeat

Reese2012 · Jul 14, 2011

Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it. I am sure you are glad to come home after a long day of work!

I work in a Surgical trauma ICU...7am to 7pm.
Here is a typical, uncomplicated day.
I have 2 patients, I start the day by getting report from the night nurse.
I do a full and complete assessment on both patients first thing in the morning and then every four hours thereafter (but I am always looking for changes and watching trends).
I chart vital signs every hour on the hour and whenever there is an abnormailty.....and adjust medication as neccessary.
I monitor everything the patient takes in and puts out every hour.
I turn the patients every two hours and reposition as necessary. I change linens at least once a shift.
I clean and provide incontinent care whenever the patient has soiled......sometimes this is multiple times a shift
I do mouth care on all ventilated patients every 2 hours.
I send off labs as ordered and check results......this can be as frequently as every hour.
I do wound care.
Most patients get accuchecks at least every six hours if not more...
In addition to charting vital signs every hour, I fill out 10 pages of check lists every four hours for assessment purposes....plus I have to write a narrative note every two hours or whenever anything out of the ordinary comes about.
I call the doctors for anything abnormal, and follow through on any orders.
I give medications as ordered .......in the ICU sometimes these medications are continious.
I update families...multiple times per shift and attend to their needs.
I attend rounds with the doctors for my patients.
Unless the patient is on deaths door.....almost all of our patients, vented and otherwise get up to a chair at least once on day shift. Sometimes it will take 5 or 6 nurses to accomplish this task alone.
I sign all the orders off, that are written by the doctor and make sure the orders have been entered into the computer.
I update PT/OT, pharmacy, case management as the need may be.
This is a snippet of what my day entails.
There is not enough space to write what I do on a complicated day!

KayRN910 · Jul 14, 2011

I have been an ER nurse for a year, so I can give you a little perspective into a different department...

if I work 7-7, I come in and get report on any patients that may be in my rooms. Usually I start off with 5 rooms, since that early in the ER is *usually* not as busy.

After report, I go check my rooms for all the equipment I may need in an emergency - suctions, CPR stuff, make sure my O2 is working, that stuff.

As patients come, theres really no telling what the day will bring.

I usually lose a room at 11 and another at 12 when the midshifters come in. They work 11-11, 12-12, 1-1, or 3-3, depending on the day. So as the day gets busier, you get more help. 3 room is our typical ratio when you are in busy hours.

As the night goes on, the opposite happens, when midshifters start to leave, you gain more rooms.

I can have anything in those rooms at any given time, and your assessment skills have to be stellar because you sometimes have to just glance at a patient and know something is wrong.

I push lots of pain meds.

When I'm triage, I have to prioritize who goes back first, when can be very stressful if you have several sick people and a lot of angry not-so-sick people because they have to wait.

You have to know your CPR and ACLS backwards and forwards, because we see at least 1 cardiac or respiratory arrest a day.

....just an idea of how the day goes.

Reese2012 · Jul 14, 2011

Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it. I am sure you are glad to come home after a long day of work!

I work in a Surgical trauma ICU...7am to 7pm.
Here is a typical, uncomplicated day.
I have 2 patients, I start the day by getting report from the night nurse.
I do a full and complete assessment on both patients first thing in the morning and then every four hours thereafter (but I am always looking for changes and watching trends).
I chart vital signs every hour on the hour and whenever there is an abnormailty.....and adjust medication as neccessary.
I monitor everything the patient takes in and puts out every hour.
I turn the patients every two hours and reposition as necessary. I change linens at least once a shift.
I clean and provide incontinent care whenever the patient has soiled......sometimes this is multiple times a shift
I do mouth care on all ventilated patients every 2 hours.
I send off labs as ordered and check results......this can be as frequently as every hour.
I do wound care.
Most patients get accuchecks at least every six hours if not more...
In addition to charting vital signs every hour, I fill out 10 pages of check lists every four hours for assessment purposes....plus I have to write a narrative note every two hours or whenever anything out of the ordinary comes about.
I call the doctors for anything abnormal, and follow through on any orders.
I give medications as ordered .......in the ICU sometimes these medications are continious.
I update families...multiple times per shift and attend to their needs.
I attend rounds with the doctors for my patients.
Unless the patient is on deaths door.....almost all of our patients, vented and otherwise get up to a chair at least once on day shift. Sometimes it will take 5 or 6 nurses to accomplish this task alone.
I sign all the orders off, that are written by the doctor and make sure the orders have been entered into the computer.
I update PT/OT, pharmacy, case management as the need may be.
This is a snippet of what my day entails.
There is not enough space to write what I do on a complicated day!

cosmicmama, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2011

I consider myself lucky...I've been an RN for 16 years and have busted my hump on med/surg and ER in the past. Now I do nights in L&D in a small community hospital. Sometimes I take care of two or three uncomplicated postpartum moms and they don't need anything but vitals and Motrin all night. Sometimes I have a labor patient, maybe a postpartum mag patient on top of that, and I am busy but not overwhelmingly so. Sometimes I recover c/s patients and continue caring for them all night, and may do an outpatient in L&D or two. Occasionally, and I mean very occasionally, I have the night from hell where everybody and their cousin wants to come in an have a baby, then we get a preterm twins abruption on top of all that. But that is rare. And occasionally, I have no patients at all. For the most part, I sit on my butt and read books more than half the time.

Don't hate me!

Wow, after having written that, I can't believe I'm thinking of leaving for a Monday-Friday case manager position.

KayRN910 · Jul 14, 2011

Wow, after having written that, I can't believe I'm thinking of leaving for a Monday-Friday case manager position.

Dont do it! Enjoy your books!!!! :yeah: Hahahaha.

RoyalPrince · Jul 14, 2011

An average day in the life of a nurse is never the same; otherwise it isn't average!

noregrets · Jul 14, 2011

See if you can shadow a nurse for a shift. In my hospital we often have high school students or others for a shadowing experience, nothing replaces experiencing it for yourself.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2011

I'm an ER nurse.

I arrive, get my assignment (we get rooms rather than patients).

If my rooms are empty (more likely if I start in the morning, less likely if I start in the evening), I check my rooms to make sure there is suction, a yankauer, bag and mask, BP cuffs in 5 sizes, linens, gauze, and gloves in each room (some rooms have a locked cart with more supplies).

If I have patients already, after getting report and scanning the chart quickly, I see them in order of acuity and do my own assessment based on their needs (my laceration who already got a full assessment gets a peek at their cut, the asthmatic on a neb gets listened to). THEN I check my rooms.

And from there....I start IVs and get lab workups on patients, send patients to X-ray/CT/ultrasound (drop off or stay with them). I give meds, recheck vitals every hour, 2 hours or 4 hours depending on triage level. Do assessments of new patients, discharge patients who are done, talk to the residents and attendings about my assessment/plan of care/patient concerns. I PO challenge patients, splint, do crutch training, do point-of-care testing like rapid strep and urine dip. I help hold patients for IVs and sutures, give out stickers and juice and popsicles, do EKGs, get supplies for the doctors (they don't have codes for the omnicell), question questionable orders (we routinely get new residents who need to learn how things are done in our ER), straight cath infants, hold for lumbar punctures, administer nebulizer treatments. Call pharmacy to find out why a med hasn't come up yet, call the lab to find out what color tube a rarely drawn lab value needs to go in. Tell parents that I do not know how much longer the doctor is going to take to see them but that patients are seen in the order of how sick they are and no we do not validate parking. Watch my partner's rooms while they go to lunch, sometimes triage my patient in their room when we're doing immediate bedding. I call report on patients getting admitted and get them up to their rooms (some patients require a nurse present on transport, some can go with respiratory therapists or techs).

On a crazy day, we might be pulling patients previously considered our sickest patients out of our bay area and putting them in to other rooms because we just got a couple of bad traumas right in a row and now they are pretty stable in comparison and we need their beds. Sometimes I delegate to techs who only work when directly asked to do something and sometimes I'm thanking a tech who routinely looks for things to do to help with the work flow.

Sometimes I call social work for or on a patient and sometimes I discharge patients in to police custody.

At the end of my shift, I give a quick report to the nurse taking over my assignment and usually leave on time.

I've administered epinephrine, given chest compressions and done post mortem care on babies. I've seen some wicked fractures on x-ray. I frequently have moments where I'm overwhelmed with how much I love what I do.