Time Management in Nursing

I am a recent baccalaureate graduate of Charleston Southern University. I received my Bachelor of Science in Nursing in May of 2015. On June 20, 2015, I received my NCLEX-RN results and became a registered nurse in the state of South Carolina. After considering my options for a graduate program, I happily accepted my offer from Case Western Reserve University and moved to Cleveland to pursue my graduate studies. Over the course of my undergraduate career, theories were included in the curriculum but not in depth. It is for this reason that I am excited to partake in this course – to learn the foundational and applicable theories of the nursing profession.

The transition from student nurse to registered nurse can be exciting, stressful and challenging and reality shock can be experienced (Kaihlanen, Lakanmaa, & Salminen, 2013). The skills knowledge and values learned during the 3 years period of the undergraduate program should be demonstrated while working as a Registered nurse. The transition from nursing student to professional nurse is complex and multifaceted experience (Clark & Springer, 2012). Therefore, it’s essential to guide the student during their learning process for their professional development. It is difficult for the student nurse to work on their own unsupervised right after completing their program. Being independent registered nurse will take lots of practice skills wise and knowledge wise. The transition from student to staff nurse ‘is a common rite of passage that marks the end of initial educational preparation in the discipline and the

You are 20 minutes into your 12-hour shift, do you know how the rest of your day is going to go already? Ask yourself these simple questions: Do you know about your patients? Have you reviewed all of your orders and your “to-do” list? Have you already planned how to prioritize and delegate your tasks for the day? In Today’s world of nursing, a nurse must multitask, intervene when necessary, and advocate for the patients – all while educating and promoting safety. Time management is an often overlooked task by many nurses, but is essential to maintaining a stress free shift while accomplishing patient-centered care. According to Oxford’s Dictionary, time management is defined as “the ability to use one’s time effectively or productively, especially at work.” ("Time Management - Definition of Time Management In English | Oxford Dictionaries") To appropriately manage time, a nurse must use prioritization, efficiency, and communication to complete obstacles that may come their way.

The new graduate nurses (NGN) are faced with various issues and challenges especially in their first year of nursing practice. The period of transition from a student to a graduate nurse is a demanding period that is filled with new experiences and there are several concerns and factors that can affect the transition process. The research into the issues has recommended some strategies that can be utilised to ease the transition process from being a student to a professional practicing nurse. Exhaustion, reality shock and time management are some of the factors and issues that the new graduate might encounter during their first year in their career.

Conducting an interview with someone makes you see things in many different perspectives and in a new light. The person I interviewed saw nursing as a broader term that saw things in a different way even though she has just started. She knows that special people need to take roles in being a nurse. I interviewed my aunt, Ann Juknevicius. She is 30 years old and she has been a nurse for 2 years in Illinois now. Relatively she is a new nurse. One of the main reasons why I started the nursing program is because I look up to Annie a lot and she showed me so many different perspectives on how to look at people, different situations, and the way you handle things. I thought that it would be a great interview session to see if Annie’s expectations were the same as the nursing reality.

In my current role as a nurse educator I feel the desire to pursue my dream of obtaining a master’s degree, specializing in nursing education. It has been 27 years since I have sat in the student chair in a classroom; therefore, I anticipate a number of challenges and barriers to overcome. In this paper I will present and describe three challenges that I expect to be faced with over the next two years. I will also discuss the strategies I plan to use to address these challenges.

According to Chater and Litchfield's study done on new graduate nurses who work in a neonatal unit at an Australian hospital, five themes: "knowing, planning, support, fulfilment, adapting and being flexible" can be utilized to help student nurses and new graduate nurses to better manage their clinical time (Chater & Litchfield, 2007).

My personal nursing mission statement is changing and developing as my career advances, however, one core piece will remain constant. I will strive to provide the best, safest, most ethical and compassionate nursing care that I can for all patients and family members with whom I come in contact. I began my post-high school academic career as an accounting major. I enjoyed the challenge of manipulating a report until I had balanced. I thought I had found my calling. As my first semester was nearing an end, I found myself contemplating the thought of sitting behind a desk all day. I wondered

The beginning of a new graduate nurses career rarely begins easily, there seems to be a distinct disconnect between the fantasy of what it means to be a nurse and the reality of bedside nursing. Nursing school seems to feed into this disconnection, in that it does not prepare the new graduate registered nurse (NGRN) for their professional practice. What nursing school does is give the NGRN the basics, a peak into what is to come. The NGRN has to find out for themselves what the true meaning of being a nurse is and if it fits their preconceived ideas.

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).

Many nursing students prefer completing their B.S.N-RN programs and enrolling for FNP programs immediately. Some prefer becoming responsible for a home, job, or even a family after finishing their education. On the other hand, others prefer to start their nursing specialty career as soon as they can, rather than beginning with being employed as a general RN for some time. One benefit of nursing students who enter FNP programs sooner is that nursing students who graduate sooner have already acquired the habit of creating time for studying, taking exams and attending classes. Once a nursing student stays out of class for some time, it can be difficult for the student to develop such

Becoming a nurse requires extensive schooling and training that for most students causes considerable amounts of stress to be placed on their success for the future. Nursing school places students in an environment that is rigorous and competitive which in turn results in high-stress levels experienced by these students. The stress inflicted on these students causes them to experience health problems along with deterring them from completing their studies. Additionally, the pressure and struggles these students are facing are being ignored by those placing them under these conditions, ignoring the fact that the educators of these students are responsible for ensuring the well-being of these students. Proven that nursing students experience more stress than the average college undergraduate, the stress inflicted on nursing students by their educational process results in students that are less likely to succeed and that are overall less healthy both physically and mentally.

Typically, when someone hears ‘medical field’, automatically you think of people with white lab coats and a stethoscope around their neck ready to take your vitals. Obviously this comes to mind because these doctors and surgeons are the face of the medical field, but in reality there is so much more. There are actually about 300 different occupations one can have in the health care field. A large part of that is nurses. Nurses are the basis of the medical field; they are almost as important as the patients themselves. They have always been a major part of our lives. Nurses have been with us since we first opened our eyes, from birth to broken bones, nurses were there. They have very difficult and extensive careers, they dedicate their lives to their work and to their patients. Some nurses spend long nights away from their family and friends to help others, at times their shifts can last as long as 24 hours. In my opinion nurses are the real super heroes, for this reason I have decided to pursue a major in nursing. I still have a lot to learn and many years of schooling to go, but personally its worth the wait.

I once heard someone say, “Find something you love to do and you’ll always be successful.” If you want to be in a field where you are continually learning, nursing would be the top pick. This paper will reflect the journey I have taken from Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with the incorporation of my learning objectives from my clinical course.

The idea of returning to school to master new skills to compete in the workplace is an excellent goal for any working adult. However, it is important for the working adult to understand success is base upon the journey taken and the path chosen by someone. One must realize there will be many barriers and difficulties along the way; however, with dedication, ability to prioritize, and motivation to stay focus, I will succeed and graduate with my Master degree in Nursing in October 2017. For me to be successful in achieving this goal, there are different pathways that I must chose and followed. These are assessing my learning styles, finding ways to manage my time, money, and stress, and setting S.M.A.R.T goals.