k.cam

Don't be so hard on yourself. It takes every nurse new to our facility or floor about 2-1/2 hours to finish med pass for 30 residents. Even experienced nurses take extra time when they float or are moved to a new unit. I agree it is more important that you do it "right" than do it "quickly" - the speed will come in a few months. I also agree with saving treatments until after med pass. It is easy to change most dressings on sleeping residents, even sacrums. And as you get to know your residents, it will become easier to prioritize and know which resident should get what when.

Every facility is different in the wording they use. The key is charting that you have endorsed the responsibility to another person. "Endorsed to Jane Smith RNS, will inform MD in AM." There is nothing wrong with charting that someone has told you that they did something, as long as that is what you write. "Per Jane Smith RNS, MD made aware."

Since classes start so soon, just concentrate on preparing for the first day or two of classes. We should all already be in the habit of reviewing the material before class, right? Anything extra you get done is a bonus. I know some people who have read every textbook cover to cover already, and some who still haven't bought them. It all depends on your personal study style, I suppose. Most people are somewhere in the middle. Either way, don't be hard on yourself. Don't go in on the first day already over-stressed. There will be plenty of that to come.

Our uniform is a white tunic and lab coat (like the OP), with white low-ride boot-cut pants. No athletic shoes, they must be nursing brand shoes. Since I'm ever-so-slightly-not-skinny I was pretty freaked out at the thought of white pants, but when I tried them on, they weren't as bad as I thought. I'll survive. HOWEVER... I no longer complain, having since discovered that a hospital-based program not far from here requires all female students to wear a white knee-length skirt with white hosiery. UGH! It is 2010, right?