still cant get a hang on time management

[frankiern]

i have been a nurse for 1 year and 4 months, still having issues with time management! i work in a busy medsurg floor, everytime i go home im always questioning my day, afraid that i might have missed or did something wrong. i always always leave very late (frown on by manager) to catch up on my charting, my charting is very basic due to time limit, i feel like if i ever get sued i know my charting wont cover my butt! i dont know maybe i just cant grasp it, maybe its time for me to move on! or should i hang on?

[neonatal_nurse]

What your feeling is perfectly normal. We've all been there. If we survived it, so will you.

You have to develop your own "strategy" with how you deal with your patients to be faster. Like, get to the unit early, open your charting, assess your patients in an organized manner, prioritize and delegate. Ask help on things you don't know. Minimize loitering and talking with co-staff if not important. Leave your cellphone on your locker, do not text.

Later on, as time goes by you will be faster, more efficient and effective. Learn to adjust and sacrifice. There will be times when you may not be able to sit or eat. Your hands will be full most of the time. But you'll get through this. Just have an attentive and enthusiastic attitude. Be open to criticisms- you will hear a lot.

Don't tell me you're giving up. You're letting go just because of this? After years of nursing school and exams? Do not give up. Persevere. Work harder, work smarter.

Good Luck! :)

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

The essence of time management is prioritization.. being able to differentiate between tasks that have to be done right away versus those that can be postponed. I advise new grads to begin by using some type of physical organizer (paper list, form, etc.) to list activities and categorize them accordint to: "NOW", "Soon", and "Later". Sometimes it even helps to color code them or even use a separate column for each category. When you begin each shift, make your to-do list and prioritize it. Then as new things come up, enter them into the right category. When you are caught up with the NOW stuff, work on the Soon stuff, and so on.

As time goes on, you may become less reliant on your paper organizer and be able to maintain everything in your head. Keep in mind that you will seldom complete your entire to-do list. Some days are just filled with NOW tasks, and so you have to defer the 'Later' stuff to the next shift. That's why we have 24X7 shifts.

Inexperiened nurses tend to place everything in the NOW category. This causes huge amounts of stress and feelings of just being overwhelmed. You are very smart to recognize this as a learning need and to begin to consciously work on improving it.