CLINICAL PRACTICE
Prioritizing and clustering care are the basic components of time management for nurses. However, new nurses often have unique struggles in this area. These may include being hesitant to delegate tasks, failing to anticipate what could go wrong, staying in control, and neglecting reflection time.
Transitioning from a new to a professional nurse can be challenging, but staying aware of these overlooked growing pains can make you more efficient and productive.
While delegation is a nerve-racking skill that comes with time, most nurses can’t wait around for it to develop naturally. This process involves handing the responsibility of a task to another person while remaining accountable for the outcome. Hesitancy to delegate can lead to heavier workloads and poor time management. Master delegation with these tips:
Understanding what and what not to delegate is the key to overcoming your fears. Registered nurses (RNs) should never delegate tasks that require Teaching, Assessment, Planning, or Evaluating (T.A.P.E.). These interventions are unique to nursing, making it possible for nurses to perform at the top of their scope of practice.
Professional RNs often delegate tasks to other RNs, licensed practical nurses, or certified nursing assistants. However, T.A.P.E. tasks belong to RNs and cannot be shared or passed off.
According to the National Guidelines for Nursing Delegation, there are five rights of nursing delegation: the right task, the right circumstance, the right person, the right direction/communication, and the right supervision. Here’s what to ask yourself:
Does the person you’ll delegate to have proven competency for this task? Is the task within their scope of practice as determined by state and organizational protocols? In order to feel comfortable delegating to someone with limited experience, you may consider completing a task alongside them.
Several risks to patients can be avoided by targeting their root causes ahead of time. Developing strategies to anticipate and respond to both expected and unexpected situations can improve patient outcomes and strengthen time management skills.
Slowing down when you need to hurry up and get things done may sound counter-intuitive. However, keep in mind that your job is not to complete a checklist of tasks—it is to provide quality nursing care.
Veteran nurses have learned the hard way that rushing through patient care results in more delays and stress than slowing down to focus on each patient encounter. Slowing down allows you to cluster care more effectively, focusing on completing one task at a time instead of multitasking. This is especially important when it comes to giving or hanging medications.
When multiple treatments, medications, and therapies are ordered, it’s often the nurse’s responsibility to manage when and how these things get done. To handle your nursing tasks without losing control of your day, there are several components to think about.
Documenting as early and as often as possible is ideal, but it’s not always realistic. Regardless, failing to document until the end of your shift will most likely take more time. Here are some tips for gaining control of documentation time.
What did you do first? Second? Third? What should you have done first? What could you do differently in the future to create improved patient outcomes in similar situations? Based on research and best practices, what could you do better next time? Always base your nursing care on best practices by taking the time to review them.
Reflect honestly on what worked well and what didn’t. One of the best outcomes of evaluating your actions is gaining insight. In the future, you will be able to avoid wasting time on interventions or tasks that didn’t result in the most favorable outcomes for your patients.
As a new nurse, surviving the test of time management comes down to delegating effectively, anticipating all outcomes, proactively taking control of your day, and consciously reflecting on your actions. By focusing on these temporary hurdles, struggling new nurses can manage their time like a pro while building confidence along the way.