Tips on getting out on time as a new grad

Being a new grad myself, nearing the end of my preceptorship, I thought I could share some of my advice with you all.

First off let me start off by saying, I think I have gotten off on time maybe twice in the past month, so I am sharing this post based on things I could improve on and what I feel would help benefit others.

Here are my tips on effectively getting off on time:

1. Try to prepare your hand off notes a half hour or an hour before shift change. This will help keep all your patients in line and help highlight the important details.

2. Talking about important details, try to make sure you only highlight those details and try not to add extra fluff that may be unnecessary to the oncoming nurse. Keep it to pertinent info that will help paint a good picture for the next nurse.

3. Try to have meds done in a timely manner, if you can, aim for 30-1 hour before shift change. I dunno about you guys, but sometimes we have insulin due right before shift change and guess what always happens right before shift change in the ER?? You guessed it, a CODE!! Its almost inevitable while working in the ER, its like witching hour between 6:20 and 6:50, you're almost guaranteed a code of some sort. So with that being said, try to stay on top of your meds.

4. Let your patients know that a shift change will be coming soon, perform your last assessments, vitals and clean them up and get whatever they may need.

5. Lastly, don't be hard on yourself if you don't get off on time initially. Sometimes its hard with all the charting we have to do and all the circumstances that arise right before changing shifts.

If you have any other good advice, please feel free to drop it below! The more the merrier!