Most difficult to learn as student and nurse?

allnurses Guide · Sep 13, 2010

The people I precept, is usually learning to focus on a patient, get it all done and then move on in a timely manner. Not to get bogged down in a room or procedure, to learn to asses rapidly and keep moving.

NurseLil · Sep 13, 2010

As a new grad, I think time management is my biggest struggle, but it's getting better. And I can't seem to get male catheterization right either lol. Darn prostates!

GM2RN · Sep 13, 2010

Getting out of pt's rooms as quickly as possible when they want to talk your ear off.

Ashley_RN · Sep 13, 2010

As a New Grad who is starting her first RN job in 2 weeks, I can tell you that I am terrified, among MANY other things, about DELEGATION. They stress in school over & over how important it is, but students NEVER get to actually practice delegation to CNA's at clinical sites. We take care of everything (which is, of course, great experience) but it does not allow us to practice this skill. I can honestly say I am nervous about learning to delegate to the CNA's who are 20+ yrs my senior, however, know I'll likely drown if I try to do everything myself.

Well.... I'll let you know how it goes! :uhoh21:

chuckz, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2010

Time management and prioritizing care is my hardest thing. Tasks you can learn, to cluster training, especially as a new nurse was rough for me.

sistasoul · Sep 13, 2010

As a New Grad who is starting her first RN job in 2 weeks, I can tell you that I am terrified, among MANY other things, about DELEGATION. They stress in school over & over how important it is, but students NEVER get to actually practice delegation to CNA's at clinical sites. We take care of everything (which is, of course, great experience) but it does not allow us to practice this skill. I can honestly say I am nervous about learning to delegate to the CNA's who are 20+ yrs my senior, however, know I'll likely drown if I try to do everything myself.
Well.... I'll let you know how it goes! :uhoh21:

Always say please and thank you. Also, remember that the aides have their own set of tasks they need to accomplish by the end of their shift. I try to time delegating certain things around the aides availability. Any little thing you can do to help your aides will promote a sense of team work. I was an aide before I became a nurse and I am so glad because I can relate to their workload. Always be kind to your aides. Being an RN on a busy medusrge floor would be next to impossible without them.

When you get to know the CNA's you are working with you will feel more comfortable delegating. I still feel uncomfortable delegating at times.

Ashley_RN · Sep 13, 2010

Always say please and thank you. Also, remember that the aides have their own set of tasks they need to accomplish by the end of their shift. I try to time delegating certain things around the aides availability. Any little thing you can do to help your aides will promote a sense of team work. I was an aide before I became a nurse and I am so glad because I can relate to their workload. Always be kind to your aides. Being an RN on a busy medusrge floor would be next to impossible without them.
When you get to know the CNA's you are working with you will feel more comfortable delegating. I still feel uncomfortable delegating at times.

sistasoul-

Thank you for the advice. I also worked as a CNA throughout Nursing School so I too know how difficult the workload is. I am also very happy I worked in the position as I know that as a Nurse I will know from experience how to approach/thank them, what I should delegate vs. what I can really do on my own, and offer a helping hand when they seem overwhelmed. Even after knowing all this, I am still worried. I guess it's not so much the delegation part as much as it's the age thing. Some incredibly nice (but young) nurses on the floor I worked as a CNA would approach so kindly, asked for things only when they absolutely had to while saying please & thank you but quite a few of the older Aides always gave them a hard time & attitudes (sometimes ignored their requests) without fail. They rarely ever acted this way towards older nurses. I guess it's inevitable that not every co-worker will be nice & receptive, but I'll continue to be kind to them & say thank you... it'll be good practice for when I get those not-so-nice Dr's or families :lol2:

amarilla, RN · Sep 13, 2010

The hardest thing for me to learn so far is to anticipate everything that may be needed for a patient with a particular dx/surgery. Right when I think I have all my bases covered for needs/meds/tests/consults, someone will inevitably ask, 'you did call _____, right?' and I'll say D'OH!

Figuring out who to call and when isn't a piece of cake either.

As far as hands-on skills, IVs are still tricky for me. I wish they would have introduced us to the techniques and equipment in school, even just to let us play or use a skills dummy in the lab to practice. So much worse to learn it in front of your patients!

Despareux · Apr 8, 2011

Now that I'm entering my 3rd quarter of my nursing program, I can answer my own question. For clinicals it's definitely time management. For theory, I haven't been able to pinpoint a particular area, but I THINK it may be prioritizing.