Time Management : Nursing Edition

Time Management tips from a Newly Qualifed Nurse

Time management as a nurse is truly a skill ! A student nurse recently reached out to me looking for some advice on how to better manage her time on the wards. Her question brought me back to a time where I knew I had to lock in with my time management skills or I would make nursing harder than it already is for myself. I will never forget I was a Intern nurse and I was undertaking my second placement block in a surgical ward. I ended up staying on the ward till 22:30pm when my shift was meant to finish at 20:30pm. The most painful part was that I wasn‘t getting paid for the extra hours , alas ! I suffered so you my friend don’t have to. Here are my time management tips and tricks !

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1. If the patient can do it let them do it

I used to be the type of nurse who would overly coddle my adult patients instead of empowering them to do certain tasks themselves. For example with washing I would assist nearly every patient with a wash even though not all of them needed full assistance. if I had a lady in bed 6 who would sturuggle to bend down to wash her feet I used to just go and help her wash her whole body. Not only does that waste my time but it as actually not patient centered nor patient empowering. There is a phrase in healthcare that says “If you don’t use it you’ll lose it” and I stand on that ! What I could have done was give the patient a basin and towel at the bedside and encourage her to wash her body and only assist her with washing her feet and putting on her socks and shoes since that‘s what she actually needs assistance for. Don’t waste time giving full assistance when only partial assistance is needed and don’t mistake overly coddling with patient centered care. The goal is to nurse the patient back to their pre - hospital baseline or even better !

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2. Delegate tasks

Yes it’s true , not all heroes wear capes but NEWSFLASH ! You are not the only hero on the ward. Delegate tasks to the other healthcare heroes. Healthcare assistants (HCA’s) are truly underated , I believe they are actually the ones who provide the real nurisng care , they remind me of what nursing was like before everything was just about documentation and legalism , anyways I digress. I used to be a little bit intimadated to delegate tasks to other healthcare staff especially as a student nurse but if you don’t start practicing delegation as a student don’t expect to just get into your blues and now all of a sudden you are confident with delegating. As long as you are asking respectfully then there is no problem. Everyone is there to do their job, and especially the HCA’s remember that they are there to assist you. I won’t be naive and pretend like some folks are just lazy and drag their feet for every task that they are asked to do but don’t let that stop you from delegating , thats a them problem not a you problem they can take it up later with the site manager.

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3. The other Nurses are there to help

I know everyone is busy with their own patients but if you are really behind on time you can ask a fellow nursing colleauge to assist you. I want to stress that if you want to be the colleauge who recieves help in your time of need on the ward you also need to be the nurse who gives help to your colleauges in their time of need.

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4. Do YOUR Job

If there is a job for the doctor then leave it for the doctor. If there is a job for the cleaner then leave it for the cleaner. I know as nurses we are proud of ourselves for being everything to everyone but this only leads to you being burned out and behind on your nursing tasks. No one else can do your job so focus on it and do it to the best of your ability.

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5. Set Deadlines

Let me explain - For example when I go in to say goodmorning to my patients and check their vital signs I try to limit that to 20 minutes for 6 patients. When I am giving medication I try to limit that to 30-45 minutes. Of course there are times when that doesn‘t go to plan and thats okay , e.g when I take the patients vital signs and their early warning score is high so now I have to ring the doctor. Another instance is when I am giving the patient medication and one patient has two drug charts (bruhhh) #polypharmacy. Setting that mental deadline is helpful because it prevents you from being slow and dilly dallying when you are up against the clock. The intention of this is not to rush patient care but to keep you time concious and therefore time efficient.

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6. Prioritze Tasks

Not every task needs to be done on demand. “Nurse the TV remote is not working , Nurse I need a cup of tea”, sometimes you need to learn to ask the patients to wait. Focus on the important tasks first e.g that wound dressing thats due or the patient who is asking for the commode , the TV remote and the tea can wait. Don’t be running around like a headless chicken trying to do it all at once. One task at a time in order of most to least important at any given time. After recieving the handover of my patients I create a list of tasks for the day this helps me to stay on top of my work and not forget anything. Naturally my sickest patient is my biggest priority I will always start their care first.

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7. Nursing is a 24 hour job

Nursing is a 24/7 job therefore , if you don’t get something done on your shift don’t beat yourself up about it.Hand it over for the next shift ! That being said : do your best on your shift to make the next shift easier for the next nurse and any strictly day shift tasks or strictly night tasks , get them done respectively.

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I am rooting for you !

Love Jen the RGN <3

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