Help with time management

[swansonplace]

I am having trouble getting started in on the floor:

This is what I do:

1. Walk by patients room: check vitals on EKG make sure all is in range, look at feeding, iv's, and make sure patient looks

2. Go get report

3. While I wait, I may look up kardex, labs, orders

4. Get report at patient bedside

5. Complete documenting labs on brain sheet, and any orders

6. Do head to toe assessments for each patient

7. Give medications

9. Chart when I finish medications if have time

Steps 1-5 seem to be inappropriate as I do not have enough time to sit and read the chart before I go to all of my patients rooms. So I end up just reading labs and checking for orders.

What do you do. Do you read the kardex, review all dx, hx, allergies, labs, physician statements, etc prior to going to bedside.

My preceptor just has me look up labs and kicks me out before reading orders.

Suggestions would be helpful.

[Hpy_Vly_RNBSN]

I ALWAYS read the orders at the start of my day. Labs are only going to tell you what's going on not what you as the nurse is going to do about it. Plus you need to know if the patient is NPO or if you need to do a dressing change. Once you know what's going on with your patients for the day then you can create a task list on each patient. Then I round and do my assessments.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Orders should always be checked with the off going shift