1,076 Posts
I think you pretty much cover it! I also work nights, and my typical shift goes something like...Look up orders/vitals/hx
Get report
Assess patients
Obtain vitals from tech
Give meds (scheduled and prn)
Sign off tele strips
Look up more info on patient (H&P, imaging results, MD progress notes, Social Services notes, etc)
More vitals
Put out fires as they occur (resp distress? Crazy vitals? Bad IV? Jumper?)
Get admissions as they come
Give morning med
Get blood sugars
Give am insulin
Report critical/borderline am labs to MD as needed
Give report
Obviously, throughout your shift you're doing rounds, caring for your patients (bathroom, water, repositioning, etc), and giving needs as needed. Things like dressing changes rarely happen on nights, unless they're out of necessity. With everything else we're subjecting these patients to they're having a hard enough time sleeping without a random 3am dressing change. Being on nights, you will have to learn to prioritize about when something needs to be done NOW and when doing it NOW would not be beneficial to the patient. Skills you'll probably do include IV starts, catheter insertion (Foley and straight), drain and catheter removal (in the morning), suctioning, tube feeding, etc.
Thank you for answering my question :-)
I didn't get the position, but if I do in the future, I know better now what to expect.
nursejami
37 Posts
I think you pretty much cover it! I also work nights, and my typical shift goes something like...
Look up orders/vitals/hx
Get report
Assess patients
Obtain vitals from tech
Give meds (scheduled and prn)
Sign off tele strips
Look up more info on patient (H&P, imaging results, MD progress notes, Social Services notes, etc)
More vitals
Put out fires as they occur (resp distress? Crazy vitals? Bad IV? Jumper?)
Get admissions as they come
Give morning med
Get blood sugars
Give am insulin
Report critical/borderline am labs to MD as needed
Give report
Obviously, throughout your shift you're doing rounds, caring for your patients (bathroom, water, repositioning, etc), and giving needs as needed. Things like dressing changes rarely happen on nights, unless they're out of necessity. With everything else we're subjecting these patients to they're having a hard enough time sleeping without a random 3am dressing change. Being on nights, you will have to learn to prioritize about when something needs to be done NOW and when doing it NOW would not be beneficial to the patient. Skills you'll probably do include IV starts, catheter insertion (Foley and straight), drain and catheter removal (in the morning), suctioning, tube feeding, etc.