I have been a pct 2 months now working part time and I am still kind of struggling. My floor gets around 6-7 patients per pct. I am somewhat forgetful sometimes. It's not like I am just sitting around doing nothing but the fact is I am so busy, I tend to forget to do certain things (ex. forget to chart how much patient urinated or leaving dirty gowns or towels in washroom)
I am not sure If I am just making excuses, but I constantly get call lights and I get called by three different nurses to do so many things at the same time, which makes me forget to do certain things. Its to the point where I am getting somewhat depressed because I am pretty sure some of these nurses hate me now.
Timing of everything screws me up all the time. (i would get 2 discharges and 1 admission, all within 30 min)
I just wanted to know, am i just making excuses or is this somewhat common for new pcts?
It's been about 2 months for me working as a CNA in a LTCF just weekends, and I'm still somewhat slow, and still finding my routine and rythm. There was this one weekend where it seemed I did everything wrong - after I was done with the resident I was reminded at least 5 times to lower the bed back down (resident safety issue); twice I was reminded to re-attach the residents "don't-get-out-of-bed" monitor; I forgot to change another resident and that resident and the bed was soaked when next shift arrived. I felt awefull. A few CNA coworkers told me directly that I need to learn to pick up the pace; but, there are also a few who encouraged me and said that I will eventually find the right way for me to get things done in a timely manner - they shared their stories with me of how slow they were when they first started, and the mistakes they made. Just stick with it, the time WILL come when you can juggle all your task efficiently and effectively. One thing I had to do was to find my voice in speaking up, respectfully. That moment came when a resident told me there was only so much I could do at one time; that resident was waiting for me and was responding to my apologies for taking a while getting to her because I was attending to another resident (that resident has no idea how she empowered me). I was written up for something I believe was done correctly; I went to the DON and she agreed with me, and corrected the charge nurse - my write-up was taken out my employee record.
omg you remind me of me when i was 18 and just starting out :)
It will all come in time trust me.
what i started doing was:
- bring a paper and pen with me (i had a 5*7 notebook) in which i wrote down what i did as i go and kept it in my pocket. ain't nobody got time for charting as we go. chile please.
-remember that im here to promote independence so if resident 1 has the ability to brush his teeth by himself, im gonna set him up in front of the sink with his toothbrush and his toothpaste while i tend to someone else or make the bed or whatever(thats knocking 2 birds out with 1 stone! supporting independence and multitasking baby!)
-get your patients out their rooms to activity! if not they will be on that light every second keep them occupied
-get a permanent assignment dont do floats. that will give you a routine and next thing you know you are a pro!
-be friends with your hall partner. me and my coworker work together on a patient 80% of the time, we work fast and we are doing EXCELLENT care in the process. we had that hallway on lockdown, no pressure sores, no falls, all our rooms were looking great , and we got each other's lights.
OnlinePersona, LPN
352 Posts
omg you remind me of me when i was 18 and just starting out :)
It will all come in time trust me.
what i started doing was:
- bring a paper and pen with me (i had a 5*7 notebook) in which i wrote down what i did as i go and kept it in my pocket. ain't nobody got time for charting as we go. chile please.
-remember that im here to promote independence so if resident 1 has the ability to brush his teeth by himself, im gonna set him up in front of the sink with his toothbrush and his toothpaste while i tend to someone else or make the bed or whatever(thats knocking 2 birds out with 1 stone! supporting independence and multitasking baby!)
-get your patients out their rooms to activity! if not they will be on that light every second keep them occupied
-get a permanent assignment dont do floats. that will give you a routine and next thing you know you are a pro!
-be friends with your hall partner. me and my coworker work together on a patient 80% of the time, we work fast and we are doing EXCELLENT care in the process. we had that hallway on lockdown, no pressure sores, no falls, all our rooms were looking great , and we got each other's lights.
keys to success ;-) you can do it!