Nurses, have you been told that you need to improve your time management skills?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 8, 2008

Yes, it's been hinted to me that I need to improve on this area, even though I had 70 patients while working night shift at a nursing home. 10 of these patients had feeding tubes, 1 had a tracheostomy, and about 20 received meds during the midnight and 6am medication pass.

medsurgrnco, BSN, RN · Jul 8, 2008

This is management's standard reply when they think you are not fast enough to meet the ridiculous expectations of nurses these days, and you are caring enough to not cut corners in patient care in order to get other work done.

allnurses Guide · Jul 8, 2008

That is funny . . . . I'm not very organized here at home;):imbar. But at work I'm very organized. I have time limits for getting things done.

I worked a 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift. Our assessments started at 0400 so we had time to look through charts, check rooms, etc. I made sure all my assessments were written by 5 a.m. Lab draws needed to be done and to the lab early so the docs could see the results at rounds and one doc always came between 6 and 6:30 a.m. Meds passed before the meal trays came. Go back to the charts to write further info as it happened.

This worked well for what we called "Day Shift" (even though "Days" started in the wee hours of the morning).

But pm shift, which started at 3 p.m. was different . . .. patients were busier at that time and it was hard to do your initial assessment and get it charted. I worked pm's for awhile after coming back to work post-baby . . . . . I did get a complaint about being finished with my assessments too soon. It looked like I was lazy because I was finished with my charting while the other nurses had the charts all spread out in front of them. Even though it was busy, that habit stayed with me.

I didn't last long on pm's . . . getting home at 4 a.m. with a 4 month old just didn't work.

So, no . . . .no complaints about my time management at work. However, home life is different . . . . spending too much time on the computer steals time away from housework. :coollook:

steph

BlueEyedRN · Jul 8, 2008

Not since I was brand new, but it was expected I wouldn't be that good at time-management then. I have been told I need to give more organized reports. Okay miss only-work-one-8-hour-shift-a-week, lets see how organized your brain is at the end of three night shifts in a row.

shellsgogreen · Jul 8, 2008

pretty much when i first started, but not so much now - although having said that i do tell myself i need to improve my time management - i sometimes catch myself scurrying back and forth while thinking; i could've made this less complicated for myself:banghead:

litbitblack, ASN, RN · Jul 8, 2008

Hmmmm, managements response to poor staffing or they say work smarter not harder

nervousnurse, ASN · Jul 8, 2008

A couple weeks ago, three of my patients complained to one of our doctors that they hadn't gotten their am meds yet.....she told my supervisor that I might have a time management problem......I was soooooooooooooo mad! :angryfire Then a while later, I couldn't let it go, took it so personally, and cried!

Later, after calming down, I decided to speak to the doc directly to let her know there were A LOT of problems with my/her patients that morning that needed to be fixed! She nicely told me that she knows I'm a good, thorough nurse, and she realized there was A LOT going on, but suggested I get the meds overwith first, THEN start fixing everything else, and I have to agree, she was correct.

mpccrn, BSN, RN · Jul 8, 2008

not me, but i've been doing this for a loooong time. i do work with a few that truly NEED time management skills. they're busy no matter what going on or not going on. they are exhausting to watch, spending lots of time on nonsense stuff then complaining that they are busy. it makes me nuts. when i know i have to work with them i just go to my happ place. they are good nures with good skills but it takes them forever to carry out the simpliet of skills. i've seen them spend over an hour with a corpse, meanwhile getting further and further behind. incidental overtime is becoming the. new buzz word at work. they take it personally! if everyone else can get done on time, why can't they??? ......not ever! 8 hour shifts turn into 9 1/2, 12 hour shifts turn into 13 or 14. my manager is ready to pull her hair out! they've been nurses for a long time, if they can't get organized by now, they never will.......what to do......what to do ........sooo much drama!