NEEDED: Tips, Tricks & secrets for a brand new nurse!

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Hello!

I have just started my first nursing job at 22 yo, on January 2nd & I am looking for so little secrets, tips, tricks, or anything to help my days flow better from some experienced nurses. For example how do you save time, how do you organize your medication pull, little tricks they don't teach you in school. What's the best way to take report? Things like this, anything you can think of that would help a new nurse!

I thank you in advance for any suggestions! (:

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

Well, Cayleebrook, a good place to start is from the beginning and utilize deductive reasoning- the general to the specific- in order to gain information.

For example, knowing what area of nursing you will be working in would be useful.

I work in geriatric psych and I request information in a systematic process, in a nutshell: An objective report on basic patient information (name, age, admitting dx, doctor) reason for admission, living situation before admission, areas of medical concern, tests and lab results, both psych and medical tx/meds, behavior history/current behavior, and discharge plans.

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When I did ICU, I took a top-to-tail SOAP approach: Subjective; Objective: Neuro/cognitive, cardiac, pulmonary, belly, renal, skin/ortho, pain, psychosocial; Assessment; Plan.

Gosh, that sure sounds familiar!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Hello!

I have just started my first nursing job at 22 yo, on January 2nd & I am looking for so little secrets, tips, tricks, or anything to help my days flow better from some experienced nurses. For example how do you save time, how do you organize your medication pull, little tricks they don't teach you in school. What's the best way to take report? Things like this, anything you can think of that would help a new nurse!

I thank you in advance for any suggestions! (:

You don't say where you're working. Time management and organization is different depending upon where you work. In ICU, for example, I might have only 1-2 patients, but they'll be unstable. LTC might give me 30 stable patients, but it will be all about the med pass. Taking report will also vary with your patient population. You'll get more valuable tips if you give us a little more information.

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