Self Reflection: What could you do better?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi Everyone! A conversation with a friend of mine got me thinking about self reflection and things I could work on at work.

For me:

- I can be kind of loud. I have a loud voice and when I am venting to coworkers, I suspect that on my last shift a patient's family member heard me. It was not my intent to make her feel small but I inadvertently did so and I am going to work on this.

What do you need to work on? Are you a gossip? Are you a pessimist? Are you frequently late? What do you need to work on?

Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

Once I was over 60 I started being a "sweetie" to the CNA's on the hall I worked. It was ssooooooooo weird to me to be addressed as they spoke to the patients.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.
I'm not very good at taking criticism. Also not very good at masking my annoyance or my impatience with people who exasperate me, which can be a major problem when you're a nurse. And when you're exasperated easily.

In terms of the hands-on skills and direct care tasks..... it's not so much that I could do better at them, more they're just not the favorite part of my job. I excel at documentation. When we were without an MDS coordinator for a year, I was allowed to "split" my shifts between helping out the DON with MDS charting and helping out on the floor. I enjoyed my hours spent coding activity levels and typing out monthly summaries very much.

The whole first part of your post is me lately. I am so sick of the negativity where I work as well. I have found myself less patient lately. I am not sure why. I know in nursing education they tell staff to call rapid response for everything. That is so annoying. When someone should call a MD they call me and I have to tell them to call a MD.

Another thing is I need to be a little more patient with those who are not willing to try an IV or blood draw. I need to just take them with me and coach them through it. In all honesty I feel like I am terrible at teaching this skill. I think I get so frustrated and would rather do it myself.

I too have a loud voice (I blame my mom and having to have a loud voice for my grandma who refuses to wear hearing aids).

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AWESOME POST!

I too am a loud talker (not a good combination when one works at night).

I sometimes set too high of expectations for myself that sometimes I can not deliver, and I set myself up for failure.

I take on too much.

I need to get better at my pain reassessments.

Need to get better at mentoring my CNAs, trying to make them better employees rather than inwardly seething at what they are doing wrong.

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Amen to your first one. That is me to the letter. I am very quiet and reserved - at first. I take a while to warm up. This is why I tank at interviews. I cannot schmooze, I feel physically ill when I try it. But, I can walk up to a patient and I am the light of their life. Go figure.

I am also too honest, to my own peril.

I internalize and compartmentalize my feelings and emotions too much. Then, I have a breakdown. Too stoic.

I have the same set of difficulties when it comes to work...or life in general.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

Oh, I can schmooze with anybody about anything. Age does bring some benefits in that respect.

What I can't seem to do is take care of my self with any degree of consistency. Used to be great at starting things, then fall off after about three weeks (or three months). Now I am having trouble inspiring myself to even START.

Pooey!

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Specializes in Hospice.

I have control issues. I don't want other nurses doing anything with my patients unless I know about it, and then it depends on my trusting that nurse. I need to work on control and trust issues but that makes me very anxious. So now I must work on control, trust, and anxiety issues. I need a lot of help! But, I don't like to ask for help because that means I am not in control.

While this may seem funny, it's the truth. :sorry:

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Once I was over 60 I started being a "sweetie" to the CNA's on the hall I worked. It was ssooooooooo weird to me to be addressed as they spoke to the patients.

That is just wrong on SO many levels!

While I understand that it's less than ideal to refer to patients as "sweetie" or "Honey," honestly it happens because I can't memorize all of their names -- especially if I'm helping another nurse to clean up her incontinent patient or answering a random call light because I'm passing by.

Those CNAs work with you -- you're their colleague. They should absolutely NOT be calling you "sweetie" instead of using your name.

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I am too realistic. I should be with everyone else that's trying to save the world.

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Hi RNJill,

Good articles. Are you still looking for new NP/RN job opportunities?

Austin

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Specializes in Inpatient Oncology/Public Health.

I need to be more assertive toward coworkers who put me down.

I am definitely an Eeyore and cynical about management, can tend toward being quite negative.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I need to gossip less. It's my worst habit and often difficult for me to recognize/acknowledge as I do it. That's both in and out of work.

Too often I catch myself "venting" to a coworker about another coworker when in reality I am just talking trash and gossiping. In the heat of the moment I will rationalize it because the person I am speaking about was SO wrong or SO dumb that whatever I am saying negative about them must be true and deserved. It's sort of a unifying thing also because them my coworker/audience can say "oh yeah I know! this is what he/she did with me..." I am never like this to the persons face, so I felt like I was still "nice" despite what I was saying behind their backs.

I recently had a big moment where it hit me how destructive my gossiping can be and I was very disgusted with myself over it. I feel terrible that I can get satisfaction for putting someone else down instead of trying to help them or confronting them with an issue myself. This is something that took a lot of soul searching for me to realize and acknowledge about myself. It's a very ugly part of myself.

Since that realization I have made positive efforts to not talk negatively and to not participate or ignite these kinds of discussions. I realize it says a lot more about my insecurities than it does than anything else. I still slip sometimes and I don't always catch myself. I feel guilty later when I reflect and realize it. It takes a lot of effort and self reflection to change this.

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