New Grad seeking advice + reassurance: I will be taking 7 patients on med surg day shift

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 4

You're techs will make or break you so make sure you do what you can to develop a good rapport with them.

Otherwise I wish you well. Our max is six to one and it's tough crazy busy. Good luck.

toomuchbaloney · Aug 4

You will have a team to help you with the tasks that don't require your degree or license. Build a good team rapport. The experienced techs and your coworkers can give you tips and shortcuts that can trim steps and stress and improve your organization.

Good luck.

UrbanHealthRN, BSN, RN · Aug 5

Remember that hospital work is 24/7. If you don't get something done on your shift, there's always another shift after yours.

Prioritize what needs to be done during the day. When I worked pedi inpatient, daytime typically involved a lot of procedures, imaging, provider rounds/specialty consults/ancillary staff like PT, communication with family, and discharges. It was a lot of interfacing with other people and departments.

I usually worked nights when less staff and family were around, so I would use that time to bathe and weigh my patients, clean up their rooms, change out IV tubing, review orders, and anything else that I knew days couldn't do.

I hope your team is similarly supportive and good luck!

delrionurse · Aug 6

Just a couple of things to add. Many aides are taken to go sit, meaning when you think you have 1 or 2 aides, they are often needed to be sitters or to do another task, meaning you are left to do all the patient care. If you have q 4 vitals, you are going to have to do them all along with the changing. If the hospital is going to give you 7 patients, they have no respect for you.

emmaroseRN · Aug 6

Quote

Just a couple of things to add. Many aides are taken to go sit, meaning when you think you have 1 or 2 aides, they are often needed to be sitters or to do another task, meaning you are left to do all the patient care. If you have q 4 vitals, you are going to have to do them all along with the changing. If the hospital is going to give you 7 patients, they have no respect for you.

Thank you so much for doing the exact opposite of what I was asking in my question! I needed something to make me feel worse and less confident a week before my start date actually so this was super helpful.

RatherBHiking, BSN, RN · Aug 7

You'll learn great time management skills you can take with you anywhere. Take care of the patients, pass the meds, do the things and get to the charting when you can. You may have to stay over and finish charting. We all do occasionally. You'll get faster at it the more you do it. Use post it notes for any thing that comes up you need to do or chart on so you don't forget. You'll find a routine that works best for you. Try to stay on top of patient's pain to keep them from getting too grumpy. Also be friendly and strike up conversation during med passes with your patients. They're more forgiving of being late on something if they have a good rapport with you. Make note or list of when things are due like meds. Some people love brain sheets. I just use the report sheet as I don't have time to fill out another paper, Don't be too proud to ask for help if you're drowning and if you get a break in patient care around lunchtime take it! You've got this!

delrionurse · Aug 7

emmaroseRN said:

Thank you so much for doing the exact opposite of what I was asking in my question! I needed something to make me feel worse and less confident a week before my start date actually so this was super helpful.

I apologize for replying in that way. I just read the replies above and I felt it wasn't truthful to tell you there would be aides available to give you an illusion of if you build a good rapport they would be available or that you can loosely 'pass off tasks to the next shift' without some pull back. I won't elaborate but, again, I am sorry for replying in that way.

emmaroseRN · Aug 8

delrionurse said:

I apologize for replying in that way. I just read the replies above and I felt it wasn't truthful to tell you there would be aides available to give you an illusion of if you build a good rapport they would be available or that you can loosely 'pass off tasks to the next shift' without some pull back. I won't elaborate but, again, I am sorry for replying in that way.

I will absolutely take what you said into consideration, and as a past aide I know you are 100% correct! Vitals I'm not too worried about but labs and finger sticks and that kind of thing will be tough with 1 or no aides.

Ruth E. Raleigh · Aug 11

As a practicing RN of 4 decades, I remember doing RN primary care in the hospital. There is NOTHING that can replace the old fashioned manual assessment of the heart, breathing and vitals by the RN. You will get a much better quality assessment that way. Now a days in the hospital, there is automated technology which has taken the place of the manual blood pressure cuff for instance. I would try to have available a hospital issued manual BP cuff and your own stethescope to use to listen to lungs, heart and perform your own assessment.

Career Columnist / Author · Aug 13

Stay focused: this one-year job is a crucial career stepping stone. Others have done this, and with your determination, so will you. Remember how far you've already come!!