Please post your report/cheat sheet aka "brain"

I can't post mine here, but i can tell you what it includes.

across the top i have From: (what nurse i am getting report from) and To: (nurse i'm giving report to) and then NA:

THis is done in a box format. each thing I mention to you is in its own little box. takes up whole sheet of paper, paper is oriented horizontally.

first row:

Name, Age, Allergies, Doctors

second row:

admit date, admission diagnosis, admission history(as in, what happened to make them come into hosp)

third row:

past medical history, rhythm(we have telemetry), i&o dw accuchecks

fourth row:

diet, oxygen, IVF, activity

fifth row:

labs today, labs tomorrow

sixth row:

tubes/wires/etc, procedures, can't forget

seventh row:

Other, room number

if this sounds good to you, i can email a copy to you. let me know!

You will have time to learn organization during your orientation. I'm sure your preceptor/preceptors will each have their own outline that makes sense to them. I have told my orientees, look at what others you are working with use, find one you like and adapt theirs to your needs. You may find after a while you will want something different. Each department/unit will have different things they concentrate on so not all "cheat sheets" will be useful for other units.

Well, I'm already halfway through my preceptorship, and have gotten a few good tips from my preceptor. Also, since I'm a float pool nurse, I am constantly checking out everyone else's "system." But I'm still looking and gathering ideas, so that's why I asked for input here as well. I know that I have to develop my own system, but looking at what others use and like helps me know what my options are. The orientations at my hospital are brief - a few days in each unit - we don't have the "new nurse internship" programs that last for weeks-months like they do in larger cities. So I'm trying to figure as much out as I can before I'm burdened with the title RN! :)

The sheet i mentioned is one i made myself, after doing what poster after me above said. I looked at how others did it, saw the requirements of my unit (all on telemetry, so have to have a rhythm box, some w/ chest tubes or pacing wires, hence the tubes/wires box) and made myown. i saw that i like a whole sheet per person as opposed to putting all 4 patients on one piece of paper.

gotta do what works for you!

Could you PM that to me, HappyNurse? It sounds like exactly what I need to get myself organized, too!