Organization and Clinical Time Management

[guest358111]

Hello All,

I am a fourth semester ADN student. I will graduate in May. I have never really had a difficult time at clinicals...until this semester. Due to an instructor fluke...or something...last semester I never cared for more than one client at a time, and often, I was not even giving all meds on my client. I do not and did not work in a hospital setting, and so I have really had to work hard at clinicals each semester to even learn the basics...like common terms, such as 'tely' for telemetry. It sounds ridiculous, but it is true! I have had such a huge learning curve...

Anyway, this semester I now have *gasp!* two clients with all care/ med admin etc. for each. I don't mind this, as I realize that I am going to have a minimum of five when I graduate. I need the experience, and actually, I should be used to two clients by now. But, the sad truth is, I am not! And I am actually really scared and struggling with managing two clients! My last clinical day, my clients had so many meds, 0800s, 1000s, 1200, plus prns...and I had a horrible time prioritizing. It gets very crazy because a staff member or instructor has access to the meds,(we have carts), IV's have to be done with the instructor, and, my last clinical day, my patients were in isolation which of course meant gowning up all the time for every little thing. I had late meds...didn't have time for good AM care...barely got any charting done, and completely ran out of time to even get a care plan! Plus I feel like I very much lack in organizing report when I get it and when I give it. It's awful, but I really feel like a failure! I've even almost made a couple of stupid mistakes that I never thought I would do. (They didn't happen, but almost) I would think that I should be able to handle two patients in eight (well, seven and 1/2) hours by now! I feel like all of my textbook knowledge is colliding with my clinical skills and its all becoming very muddled. One minute I feel like I know what I'm doing, and the next minute I'm scared to death that I haven't got a clue and my instructor is going to give me a clinical unsatisfactory! It's almost like a mini identity crisis...

I guess what I am asking is: what are your tips for organizing getting report, giving report, getting vitals, doing AM care, AND giving meds and charting on time? I realize that in the real world, I won't be doing AM care and possibly not even regular vitals, but right now its my responsibility to do all of it. But I especially need help doing multiple meds. How do you do it when there are several ordered for the same time? I realize the hour window for med admin, but I still struggled doing it all on time.

Any advice and/or tips would be greatly appreciated. Maybe it will help me get my confidence back. :)

Thanks!

Sarah