How long did it take for you to become efficient?

[Sassybottom]

I am a new grad and I am just so frustrated at how slow I am on the floor. I try not to take more than 10 - 15 minutes with each initial assessment (which often includes getting meds, helping them to the bathroom, filling up water pitchers, tucking them in, neck/ back massage), I try to lump my cares to minimize the visits I make to each room, I try to keep focused on my charting so I can complete it quickly yet there have been many days where I will still need to stay 15 - 30 minutes after my shift to tie up loose ends. I rarely ever take breaks - I might take a quick 5 minutes here and there to use the bathroom but that is it.

I don't understand why I am so slow. It is so frustrating to see other new grads being able to take their breaks and leave the floor on time.

Any suggestions? Insights? Words of support?

Thanks for listening.

[feebebe23]

Everyone told me it would be 2 years before I felt good and confident....I didn't believe them. I considered myself a fairly bright and intellegent person. BTW I work in L&D. So I go through by 12 week internship....3 months with a precepter...and I am feeling good about being effecient with normal vags/and CS....then some thing would happen....a bleeding previa would come in...apruption....the weird stuff, and I was so glad there were more experienced nurses there. Then it happened. Sometime between 18 months and 2 years. I showed up and work and I just had this sence that I could handle what ever came in....so give it time. It will happen. Somethings just take time and experience to develop.

[TRAMA1RN]

Efficiency is something that is ever evolving, always improving and always changing. I have always worked ER and efficiency is vital, but it is also dynamic, after 8 years I am still changing and varying the way that I do things.

[snowfreeze, BSN, RN]

I took me about 2 years the first time around, each new position took a little less time as I gained experience. Now after 15 years I find about 4 months works for areas I already have some experience in and 6 months in those I am trying for the first time. Efficient at this time means I feel comfortable orienting someone else to that unit and I can be in charge if needed. Efficient for the first 3 or 4 years meant being able to take any assignment and not feeling overwhelmed.

[ahoye5199]

All I can say, lame as it is, is try not to get too frustrated. THat happens to me on a daily basis. I have lost count of the number of times I have eaten my lunch on the way home in my car. It happens. I take my time because I don't want to make mistakes. I have explained to my preceptor, it's a lot like when I learned to play the piano. The first several times you play a new piece, you play it a lot more slowly than it's supposed to go. This way, you're not practicing your mistakes. Same thing in nursing! I'm only on the floor a few weeks myself, having just graduated this past May. Hang in there! That's what I'm doing!

[jjjoy, LPN]

I have explained to my preceptor, it's a lot like when I learned to play the piano. The first several times you play a new piece, you play it a lot more slowly than it's supposed to go. This way, you're not practicing your mistakes. Same thing in nursing!

Great analogy! I wish this was generally accepted wisdom. The especially frustrating part for newbies', I think, is that the newbie's responsibilities are the same as experienced nurses. The newbie must necessarily go slow to learn and be safe and then they necessarily get behind and can't complete everything in the time alotted, ending up giving late meds, staying over late charting, etc... which they are then "counseled" on because they "shouldn't" be giving meds late or having to stay late to chart. Eventually, the newbie must "get up to speed" eventually but my experience is that the newbie isn't cut much slack after their first few months in acute care and just a week or two in LTC.