Time Management Is A Crucial Component To The Art Of Nursing.

The purpose of this paper will be to explain the components of Dorothea Orem’s self-care deficit theory, the current significance of the theory, and the application of this particular nursing theory. A nursing theory is an explanation of a division of nursing that “describes, explains, predicts, or prescribes” that particular division. (Perry, Potter, Stockert, & Hall, 2013, p. 41). Orem developed her personal theory, the self-care deficit theory, to assess a patient’s ability to perform vital daily tasks and how it affected the patient’s. (Hartweg & Pickens, 2016). This theory is a grand theory, which means it can be used in almost all areas of nursing. There are five components or methods that compose this theory that nurses will practice when working with a patient who needs to reach the self-care deficit. (Edney, Jaime, & Young, 2016). It is used today and has been included in several studies that have proven it to be effective in shortening hospital visits when used on critically ill patients. (Hohdorf, 2010). This particular theory has helped advance nursing practice since Orem’s first publication.

It is a question asked by new and experienced nurses alike: When it seems like my to-do list cannot get any longer, where do I even begin? Prioritizing is about making choices of what to do and what not to do. To prioritize effectively, a nurse needs to be able to recognize the difference between urgent (must be done immediately) and important (there may be flexibility as

Self-scheduling is an aspect of nursing that has been considered for quite some time. Prior to discussing the pros and cons of this particular practice, it is necessary to briefly elucidate some of the reasons why organizations and nurses have experimented with this technique in the past. The goal of self-scheduling, of course, is largely synonymous with the goal of assigned scheduling to fully staff a particular health care organization so that it can deliver the best care possible to its patients. The primary difference between these two methods, however, is that the former affords nurses greater authority and autonomy (Pecci, 2012) in this process, by allowing them to determine the times that are most convenient for individuals to fulfill this goal. As such, there are a number of benefits and detrimental aspects of letting nurses determine their own schedules. Some tangible pros include allowing nurses to better manage their personal and private lives, reducing the work load and the amount of stress nurse managers deal with, and overall improving the scheduling and staffing process; common cons include staff unavailability, preferentialism, and pressure to adhere to the wishes of a bevy of others (Bailyn et al, 2007, p. 73).

Time management and prioritization are important aspects of nursing care. The Pareto Principle states that 20% of focused effort results in 80% of outcome results and is an important principle for all nurses to practice in order to provide high quality care (Maloney, 2011). The majority of a nurses’ time is spent on documentation, followed by care coordination, patient care activities, unit related activities, med administration, non-clinical activities, and personal time (Maloney, 2011, p. 425). Judie and I prioritize our nursing care based on each patient 's diagnosis and need. Patients with severe diagnoses are seen first and patients who are the least severe are seen last. If a patient is in pain or needs immediate attention we see those patients first. Nurses prioritize their care activities into seven levels; imminent concern, high uncertainty, pain management, relationship management, documenting and patient support, cleaning and/or prepping supplies, personal breaks and social interactions (Patterson, Ebright, & Saleem, 2011, p. 389). Flexibility to deviate from this framework at any time is important in providing high quality, personalized care. I reprioritize patient care based on a number of factors. Throughout our shift I care for the highest priority patients first then I see patients who do not require much attention so I can designate the majority of my time to patients who do. High priority patients are categorized by

The author of this article informs us that new nurses should perform self-care, have good communication skills, improve their time management and organizational skills and seek help when necessary. The new nurse should also advocate for their patients and for themself.

Being a registered nurse, I am always open to learn from other nurse as they all experienced diverse experiences. One constructive suggestion that other could offer me to improve my effectiveness in accomplishing my goals is to start small, taking one step at a time, learning each nursing skill one at a time. Time management, is the ability to allocate time and resources to accomplish my objectives (De Janasz, Dowd, & Schneider, 2015). Often my coworkers suggest time management strategies in order to accomplish my task in a more efficient and time saving way.

The field of nursing is both a science and an art. New nurses graduate with, at least, acceptable basic competence. They are expected to have the ability to effectively communicate and make decisions in a complex environment with multiple demands on their practical comprehension. However, they usually lack the experience to apply this learned theory. This limited knowledge results in anxiety and difficulty in transitioning from the role of student to leader. How these students can best learn these skills is a topic that has come under considerable debate. We know that most become overwhelmed with multiple tasks and not able to prioritize with critical thinking in a fast pace acute hospital. This

The period I have spent here in Emory nursing school has been gratifying, challenging, demanding, and astounding. Coming into the program, I had many fixed ideas about nursing, and was not aware of all the things nurses do on a day -to- day basis. At the present time, I have come to see the extensive nursing scope of practice and the skills required to become a professional nurse; I come to really appreciate this occupation. I did my Role Transition rotation at Care Initiative Unit (CIU) in Emory University Hospital (EUH). The unit has 7 stretchers and 6 recliners and the patients being cared for are generally patients from ED, Emory Clinic, ENDO, Vascular, and Cardiac specialties. The skills utilized by the nurses to care for these patients, and their specific pre-operative needs are very unique. I encountered many experiences during my Role Transition to help me evolve into a professional nurse when I am on my own. I will elaborate on this transitional passage through exploring the unit that I worked in, and my own personal leadership characteristics as well as defining methods that I can use to incorporate Evident Base Practice and provide quality nursing care.

The Diagnostic and Monitoring Function of nurses involves assessment skills. The ability of nurses to be aware of subtle changes in patient condition prior to deterioration (Benner, 1984, p.100) exemplifies the importance of “future-think,” which Benner recognizes to be an attribute of an expert nurse and a significant skill for nurses to possess (1984, p. 102). She elaborates on this idea further in the Effective Management of Rapidly Changing Situations domain and asserts the importance of nurses to grasp problems quickly and intervene appropriately (1984, p. 147). Within the organizational and work-role domain, nursing is illustrating in the ability to learn and organize, plan, coordinate multiple patient needs, and to reshuffle priorities in the wake of patient changes (Benner, 1984, p. 147). These attributes of nurses, which vary along a spectrum contingent on experience, guide nursing actions that ultimately influence patient

New nurses are fresh out of nursing school; therefore, they only know the right way to perform a skill. This impacts patient quality care and the organization because they will not place the patient in jeopardy. They will abide by what they have learned and protect the patient at all time. New nurses will thoroughly use their rights of medication and safety procedures. These

Gone are the days when nurses stand at attention when the doctor enters the room, fetching their coffee and other menial tasks. IV catheters are no longer made of metal, nor are the bed pans. In the 50’s blood pressures and IV’s were performed only by the physician. Nurses were allowed to restrain a patient with leather restrains without consulting the physician first. To the say the least, times as a nurse have changed! Nursing today presents many challenges that need to be met with a solid educational foundation with the highest degree of education possible. Many hospitals and healthcare facilities are focusing on increasing the

Initiating change can be quite difficult especially when majority of the staff are satisfied with the status quo. Verbalizing a compelling vision can increase the urgency for change, asking for feedback and responding to their concerns and helping each staff transition through every phase of the change can solve the reluctance of the staff to change to self- scheduling. Communication breakdown can negatively impact the staff’s willingness to participate in th change process. The staff’s productivity and engagement in the change can be improve by maintaining an open communication that updates the stake holders with timely and accurate information. Nurses abusing the system is common across any scheduling framework as some staff put their personal wants before the unit’s needs and accumulate a lot of unworked hours without making up for it. Involving the staff in the initiative reduces this problem. Griesmer solved the problem by allowing each nurse to be the monitor of the month. The role is first given to the nurses who abused the system so they can understand the amount of effort the shift managers had to put in to create a schedule that accounts for everyone’s needs. . Eventually, the role becomes available to everyone and every nurse is required to be a MOM at least

As our patient population grows, so does the technology that we use to implore a more thorough approach to care; thus, much of the practices that we use and the education that is implemented is designed to prepare the nurse for these technological advances. Yet, there are other areas in education that is not getting as much attention as that of nursing informatics and the technical skills of nursing; and that is the caring aspect of nursing and caring for the patient. When providing care to a patient population, the nursing professional is not just a tool used to get them from one point to another; yet, they are a fundamental aspect for reshaping the ideology of the patient through education, shared positive experiences and true hands on care (Marks, 2013). Nursing education is to be holistic; which is the same concept that professional practice and care should encompass. In my experience as a nursing student growing from an AND to BSN and MSN there are certain aspects of care that have not had as much attention as others; with caring, knowing the difference between empathy and sympathy, and having a continuous reevaluation period in one’s career not being addressed as thoroughly as needed. As nursing professionals we are equipped with the knowledge we need to make accurate judgment and to think critically; yet, some of the social skills that prevent us from getting “burnt-out” and build trusting nurse-patient relationships are not emphasized.

Nursing is named one of the most highly respectable and rewarding career choices, despite the stress it can impose on individuals practicing in the field (Goldblatt, 2009, p. 1648). Kirsch and Woodbury-Farina (2014) define stress as feelings of tension or strain resulting from hardships or demanding situations. Nurses are an essential component of an acute care setting, responsible for the care of several acutely ill patients at one time. This type of responsibility on a daily basis can be very exhausting on the mind and body, placing a great deal of stress on the nurse. When stress builds up, nurses might feel rushed or become impatient and overwhelmed. Thus, not only threatening quality care for their patients, leaving room for dissatisfaction and even creating fatal errors (Goldblatt, 2009, p. 1650), but also threatening his or her own physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.

There are 2.7 million nurses in America, and a new survey of more than 3,300 of them found that nurses are stressed, overworked, unappreciated, and underutilized. In a 2011 survey of about 95,000 nurses, 36 percent of nurses in hospitals and 47 percent in nursing homes providing direct care, said that their workload caused them to miss changes in patient conditions (Fischer, 2014). Not having the proper staffing hurts more than just the financial and overwhelming staff, but the reputation of the hospital. Patients put their lives and care in our hands and we need to make sure we are providing responsible care with respect and integrity.