Page 177 - Essentials of Nursing Leadership and Management, 5th Edition

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164 unit 2 | Working Within the Organization CikguOnline
You may create additional work for yourself without ■ When you set aside time to do a specific task
realizing it. How often do you walk back down the that has a high priority, stick to your schedule,
hall to obtain equipment when it all could have and complete it.
been gathered at one time? How many times do you ■ Do not allow interruptions while you are com-
walk to a patient’s room instead of using the inter- pleting paperwork, such as transcribing orders.
com, only to find that you need to go back to where
What else can you do to streamline your work? A
you were to get what the patient needs? Is the staff
few general suggestions follow, but the first one, a
providing personal care to patients who are well
time log, can assist you in developing others unique
enough to meet some of these needs themselves?
to your particular job. If you complete the log cor-
rectly, a few surprises about how you really spend
Streamlining Your Work your time are almost guaranteed.
Many tasks cannot be eliminated or delegated,
Keeping a Time Log
but they can be done more efficiently. There are
Perception of time is elastic.People do not accurate-
many sayings in time management that reflect the
ly estimate the time they spend on any particular
principle of streamlining work. “Work smarter, not
task; people cannot rely on their memories for accu-
harder” is a favorite one that should appeal to
rate information about how they spend their time.
nurses facing increasing demands on time. “Never
The time log is an objective source of information.
handle a piece of paper more than once” is a more
Most people spend a much smaller amount of their
specific one, reflecting the need to avoid procrasti-
time on productive activities than they estimate.
nation in your work. “A stitch in time saves nine”
Once you see how large amounts of your time are
reflects the extent to which preventive action saves
spent, you will be able to eliminate or reduce the
time in the long run.
time spent on nonproductive or minimally produc-
Avoiding Crisis Management tive activities (Drucker, 1967; Robichaud, 1986).
For example, many nurses spend a great deal of
Crisis management occurs when people procrasti-
time searching for or waiting for missing medications,
nate or do not pay attention to their intuitions.The
equipment,or supplies.Before beginning patient care,
key to avoiding crises is to anticipate possible prob-
assemble all the equipment and supplies you will
lems and intervene before they become overwhelm-
need, and check the patient’s medication drawer
ing. As a new nurse, it may be difficult to anticipate
against the medication administration record so you
everything; however, there are some things that you
can order anything that is missing before you begin.
can do by organizing your day. Several methods of
Figure 11.1 is an example of a time log in which
working smarter and not harder are:
you enter your activities every half hour. This
■ Gather materials, such as bed linen, for all of means that you will have to pay careful attention to
your patients at one time. As you go to each what you are doing so that you can record it accu-
room, leave the linen so that it will be there rately. Do not postpone record-keeping; do it every
when you need it. 30 minutes. A 3-day sample may be enough for you
■ While giving a bed bath or providing other per- to see a pattern emerging. It is suggested that you
sonal care, perform some of the aspects of the repeat the process again in 6 months, both because
physical assessment, such as taking vital signs, work situations change and to see if you have made
skin assessment, and parts of the neurological any long-lasting changes in your use of time.
and musculoskeletal assessment. Prevention is
always a good idea. Reducing Interruptions
■ If a patient does not “look right,” do not ignore Everyone experiences interruptions. Some of these
your intuition. The patient is probably having a are welcome and necessary, but too many interfere
problem. with your work. A phone call from the laboratory
■ If you are not sure about a treatment or medica- with a critical value is a necessary interruption.
tion, ask before you proceed. It is usually less Hobbs (1987) stated that necessary interruptions are
time-consuming to prevent a problem than it is not time wasters. Middle-level managers are inter-
to resolve one. rupted every 8 minutes, and senior managers suffer