Being organized can many times be considered as something easier said than done, particularly when you are extremely busy multitasking all day long. As a nurse, it is easy to feel that there is never sufficient time to get everything done. Although it is not possible to change the number of working hours, a nurse can most definitely change how to use the time for getting more organized and efficient.
If you want your nursing career in Canada to be successful it is important to understand the significance of creating a systematic professional routine. In addition, you can also focus on eliminating all distractions and creating a personal system that helps in adding structure.
When we say organized, we do not mean becoming like a machine as you go along your day, but we do mean that you should avoid any time-wasters while prioritizing tasks.
Being Professionally Organized Means Better Productivity:
The to-do list of a nurse changes very quickly. Therefore, implementing organization skills is crucial because of the simple reason that being organized will bring about better control over completing daily activities.
When nurses study in Canada, they are made to focus on the importance of managing their time effectively just so that they can become capable of allocating hours every day for conducting and following up on events.
Look at it this way, when a nurse is professionally organized, he/she will be able to access and analyze important procedures designed to handle different problems. Any nurse who has excellent organizational skills is much more productive and makes much better impressions while receiving better promotions.
Habits to Become More Organized:
- Prioritize Tasks: The nature of work in nursing is not always predictable. Also, a situation that involves an emergency will take precedence over daily routines. Hence, it is important to set a timetable during the normal or non-emergency times so that the nursing shift becomes more organized and hence, more productive.
This can happen by prioritizing tasks that are more important and should be done first. For instance, it is more important to ensure that a patient gets all the medications at the right time as compared to recognizing the stockroom. In addition, there must be a schedule for making patient rotations, updating important files, and ordering supplies.
To become more organized, nurses can also work on the new patient files right at the beginning of the shifts while saving the patient release files for a later time in the day. In this scenario, one must not procrastinate so it becomes possible to feel accomplished as much as possible while reducing any unwanted stress.
Remember, being able to organize the day can prove as a key to success for any nurse, particularly for the ones who have just completed their nursing courses in Canada. For accomplishing everything that must be done during a shift, one must use a tool that helps in keeping track of all the priorities. Checking each task off as and when it is accomplished can help a lot.
- Arrive Early at Work: If you are a nurse who has recently completed your nursing education, then you should get into the habit of arriving early at work. This is all the more important when you are expected to take care of multiple patients at a time.
When you get your nursing report from the previous shift, you will have fundamental information to get off with. It is very important to have some space to write information from your previous shift. As a new nurse, you can get into the habit of being there at work at least 30 minutes early while you start writing to your patients. However, as you keep acquiring more skills, anything from ten to twenty minutes will be sufficient. This will help your shift go smoothly.
- Find a Nurse Mentor: It is very helpful for all the nurses to have a mentor. In case you know a senior nurse who is experienced and proficient then make it a point to ask them if they are willing to help you with little tips for organizing your day. Specifically, if you are a new nurse who aspires to make a successful career in nursing in Canada then finding a good mentor is all the more important.
It can be pretty beneficial if they have worked in the same facility as you have, but that said it is not essential. Rather, getting tips from someone from the ones working in a different facility can be helpful too. Also, in case the hospital you work at has a mentorship program, go all out in becoming a part of it.
If you work with a nurse, you admire and someone who is good at what they do then you can watch them quietly while learning how they do their work. This is often known as a silent mentorship relationship where you learn through association and observation. In case you think that is not your style then you can verbalize your desire to the same nurse and ask him/her to become your mentor. This can involve regular meetings to ask questions, receive coaching, being informal as and when needed in your mentor-mentee relationship.
- Gather Medical Supplies: In order to stay organized, you need to learn how to be prepared for all that can happen. This also means that you should have the right equipment for dealing with the day. These medical supplies can include anything like alcohol wipes, medical tapes, saline solutions, gauze, etc. It might also be a great idea to carry a bottle of lotion of an effective cream so that you don’t have to run to clean the utility room each time.
When you have the necessary medical equipment prepared at your disposal, you will be able to save plenty of time and work much more efficiently. Gathering all the necessary equipment will also save you from making unlimited rounds to the medical supply room, or looking at lab work requirements repeatedly. This is an extremely useful organizational tactic that is highly important for supply rooms located on different floors of a hospital.
Swarming from one floor to another may end up being a burden if you are pressed for time. The lab work medical procedures need detailed paperwork. Hence, it is important to fill forms as much as possible well in advance. You can update all the patient records both electronically and in the written form as well while preparing for the upcoming blood tests and other important lab work.
- Confirm Before Notifying: An important aspect of staying organized as a nurse is doing a proper investigation before notifying a physician or another healthcare professional. This will ensure that the communication gets improved and the patient gets all that is needed. Furthermore, it can also help in avoiding a negative interaction with a healthcare provider which can affect the nursing shift.
Understanding and learning the process of organizing your thoughts and communicating your concerns to the physicians will take some time. In this case, any added pressure will not help in any way. Hence, it is always best to confirm and investigate things that can be asked. For example, in case you are calling someone for high blood pressure, ensure that you write down the BP fluctuations, what is being taken to maintain blood pressure, and in case anything else in need for better results.
In another case, if a patient is suffering from pain then ensure that you have a suitable assessment of the pain, what the patient is getting for pain and any previous medications that were given for pain. You should also ensure to include the necessary recommendations that you might have.
Conclusion:
Being organized as a nurse will immensely help you in maximizing your performance. When you inculcate habits that enable you to become more organized and efficient, you will also be able to slow down, manage your tasks, and provide better nursing care.
While some organizational processes might as well differ from one place to another, the organizational skills mentioned above are the basic ones that can help in increasing the efficiency of a nurse considerably. Make sure you follow them for better productivity.
