I'm still focusing mainly on postpartum along with "catching" babies. The clinical tasks are well under my belt, and I'm becoming more and more comfortable with the policies and procedures that are routine in this hospital.
What I am working on now is prioritizing and critical thinking while allowing my self-confidence to grow more.
An example of a common situation that may arise is: When coming out of report I am faced with a physician who wants assistance with circumcising an infant, a post cesarean mother who is 20 minutes past due for a toradol dose and another mother asking for help breastfeeding her infant. What do I do first? That is what I'm working on. Being able to make decisions quickly.
Another aspect of prioritizing that I need to focus on is my ability to take care of my own needs and put other's needs on hold. Saturday was a perfect example of this: I did not take a breakfast break OR a lunch break. I continued working the entire shift until 3pm when it was time to report off to the next nurse. This was not an ideal day... BUT I need to slow down and let some things wait - even if only for 15 minutes while I empty my bladder and eat a snack. It is good for me and good for the patients in the end. This is no easy task for a mother to do as we, as mothers, are always in the giving/serving mode, it seems.
So, being able to discern what things need to be done, what things need to be done NOW and what things can wait until I take a break is an area I need to work on.
Still plugging away.....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
You beat me to it! I was going to say it's like being a mother. You have to prioritize , but also you have to take care of yourself in order to better take care of your kiddos... Same thing! I was worried about you after I saw you Saturday! I'm glad you've realized you need some TLC too!
~C
Pain meds first, help MD second, help mom with breastfeeding third. Or delegate the breastfeeding assistance to another nurse (if possible), or to a nurse's aid (surely they know a thing or two about breastfeeding!). Just found your blog - love it!
Post a Comment