Time Management Tips for Nurses

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Budgeting Time

Ideally, there will never be an interruption, computer issue, or unexpected code blue in any nurse’s normal day. However, this just does not seem to be the norm. Perhaps the most coveted commodity a nurse can have is time. Time, for nurses is far more precious than money. Money can be replaced, but once time is gone, it can never be retrieved. Learning to budget time is a balancing act that takes much practice, but once mastered, can be a busy healthcare professional’s very best friend in the world. Like medical students, nursing students are often taught more clinical than management skills during school, only to find that when they enter the “real world”, they are required to know both.

Family Needs

If the nurse is a parent, it might be wise to look forward into the children’s needs a week in advance, so nothing sneaks up unexpectedly. For toddlers still in daycare, it is only an issue of pick-up and delivery, unless a fever ensues and this is not manageable. Teenagers are a different story. All poster board and project paraphernalia should be bought prior to deadlines, so late night excursions to purchase materials are warded off in advance. Family should always come first.

Spiritual Considerations

For the nurse, individually, a few minutes in the morning with a cup of coffee and a good spiritual devotional or favorite uplifting literature may change the course of the way the day plays out; a moment of silence, prayer for a loved one or time for reflection. Just a one liner morsel of inspirational wisdom that can be ruminated during the day, possibly quoted to one in fear or doubt, can set the pace for positive outcome in the clinical setting. Due to personal pouring out into patient care and sometimes many negative individuals who seem to suck the life out of nurses, self-care is of utmost importance to a busy professional who is trying to manage life along with a career.

Planning

Tips for nurses in a hurried schedule can make all the difference in the pace of the day. For ICU nurses, early arrival to receive pertinent information on patients is helpful when planning a day’s treatment regimen. Gathering supplies for upcoming dressing changes, suctioning the end tracheal tube, or preparing patients for surgical procedures can help with unmanageable aspects of patient care.

For critical care nurses, pacing oneself is essential. It is never good to be slammed throughout the day without a break or lunch or a moment of quiet time to gather thoughts. By preparing in advance, having a plan, and establishing a routine, unexpected occurrences lose their ability to frustrate and distract. With good planning, a well-prepared nurse will be able to get back in position and get back on track with a day’s arrangement.

In tips for nurses, the first thing is an awesome slogan. Making a list of things that must be done, in order, will assist an individual to feel empowered over the day’s outcomes. Checking them off as they are accomplished relieves stress and helps to stave off the underlying anxiety of unpredictability of the profession.

Educational refreshing of emergent procedures and equipment can also relieve anxious attitudes when a code blue, evacuation exercise, fire alarm or other unexpected frustration occurs.

Healthy Interaction

For operating room nurses, establishing good team attitudes and trusting others to help take the stress off individual players is foundational. Instead of pulling equipment, suture, gloves, and other supplies between cases, it is smart to have it all done in advance. If the same surgeon has several patients to follow each other, a suture pod with his preference will save many a step to the suture wall when other priorities are looming. Rolling carts and ancillary staff are invaluable.

Delegating tasks is one the most import tips for nurses because, if done well, it can take loads of responsibility off a manager and free up time to do the tasks that can only be done by the manager or licensed professional. This also helps to enhance the “team” attitudes of coworkers and develop good working relationships in the department.