When In Practice

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 2, 2006

Hi, DoggTired06! :welcome:

It is not as daunting as it seems. It does get easier. When you begin working in the hospital on one unit, many of the things you do will become very routine. Hanging IVPB meds is one of them. Once you "get" (become) proficient in working with IVs and IV pumps you'll zip through hanging IVs and IVPBs like a whirlwind. Much of your frustration comes from your lack of speed and confidence. That only comes from doing nursing skills over and over and over. I guess the best analogy I can give you is riding a bike, whistling, or blowing bubbles with bubble gum. At first, they seem impossible. But if you kept at them and kept practicing you eventually mastered these things. Today you most likely ride a bike or whistle without giving it a thought, right? Many of the nursing skills you are only now learning will be much the same.

As for the lab values, those too, will come with using them over time. I used to keep a list of the most common ones I needed to know immediately taped to the back of my name badge so I merely had to flip my badge up to find a normal level of some electrolyte or therapeutic drug level. There is no law that says you can't have cheat sheats on the job. Can't have them for tests in nursing school, but on the job is different. I have always carried my own clipboard that has stuff on it that is for me--lab values, frequently needed phone numbers (so I don't have to dig them out at the nurses station), low blood sugar protocol, heparin protocol, and a mess of other stuff that I needed to keep written down. The fact is, this is just a way of organizing your work. The more routine stuff you can write down, the more you free up your mind to do the hard thinking that you will sometimes have to do. The stuff on my clipboard has changed over the years. When I was a new RN it was mostly lab values (see? I worried about them too!), a guideline on how to do a head to toe physical assessment, and the protocol on what to do and chart when a patient had chest pain (I worked on a cardiac unit). Recently, it's included things like the fire drill protocol, a couple of half finished one-page careplans, copies of manufacturer instructions for an IV pump and another piece of patient equipment and a list of patients who are full codes (for a nursing home I work at).

Hang in there! We all went through the same anxiety and concerns you are having.

Fun2, BSN, RN · May 7, 2006

I've looked up common lab values, and found sites with conflicting information.

What are the most common (I realize there a bunch of 'common' ones.) , and what are the actual values that you go by?

I was thinking about making myself flashcards.