The best approach to time management is an organized, proactive approach. Each shift begins the same way:
- Getting a patient assignment
- Reviewing the medical record
- Getting the shift-to-shift handoff report
- Assessing the patients
- Documenting your care
So when you arrive on shift, you receive a patient assignment. Each patient has a unique diagnosis and specific needs. It is critical you have a mechanism to quickly organize the patient-specific information. Most nurses use an organizational tool to capture pertinent information at the beginning of their shift.
We’ve got a couple tools that can help manage your time better. Take a look at Tool No. 1 and Tool No. 2–from the pages of the recently published Quick-E! Pro Time Management: A Guide for Nurses–and insert them into your routine today.
Like one better than the other? Have a different one you use? We’d love to hear all about it.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Exactly what I was looking for. I am the unit educator and am involved with orientation of new employees and mentoring of students. Organizational (and prioritizing) skills are frequently the #1 (and #2) things that hinder progress. WIll start using this site and some of the tools immediately.
May 7th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
This site was especially helpful in providing me with information on tools to use in bedside nursing. Next week I will be presenting a power point lecture to a group of Special Care Nursery nurse interns, nurses new to the profession and the specialty. I am going to present your two tools and built one of my own and allow them to trial each one to see which is more effective for them. Thanks again for providing nurses with relevant resources.
Crystal C.