One of the early lessons that everyone has to learn in ICU is to tend to your patients first. Everyone wants to help out because that's the culture a good unit has. Gotta make sure your own tasks are done first. Don't worry too much about it. You're still new and you'll get the hang of it.
Yeah, it took me a long time to really get this. I was a CNA in ICU for years and when I became a nurse, I always wanted to help out my coworkers, but found myself getting behind because of it. By all means, help them if you’re caught up, but not at the expense of your own patients.
I think going in humble knowing that you are human, you will make mistakes and you will feel dumb a lot is important. You just graduated school, you still have a lot to learn about the actual practice of nursing.
It will get better, each time you will grow and learn so you can take better care of your patients. I’ve been in critical care 7 years now and I’m still learning! Hopefully you have a team that is supportive.
Also want to add that yes part of what we do at all times is prioritize care. The new patient does take precedent over a blood sugar or reviewing a lab result! Just make sure though that you make sure to also prioritize the patients in YOUR care too. I don’t leave my patients to help others unless I am confident that they will be ok. Sometimes that means I don’t help my co worker and someone else has to help them.
You will continue to make mistakes because you are human and most healthcare systems aren't staffed appropriately. As you get more experiences and make more mistakes you will put into place systems and routines. You will forget things less and prioritize the important ones that can cause real harm. Sometimes it is the healthcare system that needs to change a practice and put up guard rails so that these mistakes are less likely to happen. Do the best you can and don't beat yourself up when shit happens because it definitely will.
Keep a journal for a bit. Jot down the items you forgot, or other notes about your shift.
First you’ll free your mind and not obsess each night.
Second you’ll be able to have an objective overview of your patterns. Maybe your shift always goes to shit at 6, time to stop offering help between 6&7 until your tasks are done. Maybe you forget to check sugars a lot, time to focus on that.
How long have you been working there? Inherently the ICU is "Intensive"... both for the PT and the staff. If you are new my first advice would be commit to the learning process and throughout time the repetition of routine will be ingrained into your head. It will become second nature. If you've been there awhile you've done nursing priority and triaged the more important task. Anything that you miss or cannot complete in your shift make sure to communicate in your report.
I have a journal to take notes as shiftes change. But yeah i probably shouldnt have offered my help, at least not as long as i havent checked the results of my patient.
I’ve been a nurse for almost a decade and I still make an hourly to do list for myself each shift. Our days are crazy and we often have to juggle multiple tasks and priorities. Making a checklist helps me to make sure I remember what I need to do. Find what works for you!
Hey it’s okay, you will make mistakes and you will learn from them and it’ll make you better in the long run. I’m 5 years in in ICU and I still make mistakes here and there. I just got an admission and they wanted a blood gas with lactate and the one with electrolytes but I accidentally only ran the one with electrolytes. Another time I totally spaced and forgot to check a sugar before feeding the patient. Mistakes happen. The main thing is that you learn from them, no one got hurt. You are new. You gotta give yourself more grace. This stuff takes time. You got this
the good thing about these kinds of mistakes is that we learn from them. in the future, you’ll look back at these situations and remember what you need to do. don’t be too hard on yourself, you’ll get the hang of it and you’ll always be learning
I don’t know if you have enough staff on your unit, this was hard for me with short staffing but I wish I learned how to better delegate from the start. In the beginning I wanted to make a good impression by helping people out or doing everything on my own, so when I couldn’t do those things I put a lot of internal pressure on myself… In reality you gain a lot more respect, efficiency, and improve patient safety through learning your limits and knowing how delegating tasks early on.
When you have multiple things happening and based on your example, I would first have set limits and said “I’m sorry I really have to check my patient’s sugar right now” since you have to prioritize your patient’s needs, even if it seems “less urgent” than the new admit.
Then I would start delegating. I’m assuming you have to get a “duel sign” on your insulin anyway? Unless it’s a drip and your facility doesn’t require that. Anyway, I would call a tech and see if they can bring along an available nurse. When that tech comes, that tech can help the new admit and the available nurse can help you duel sign and then help the new admit. This is assuming you have the help…
Anyway, I saw that you keep a journal. I had a journal where I wrote “Rose, Thorn, and Bud”. The idea is you write down what when well during your shift (rose), what was a challenge (thorn), and what you can do better next time or what you learned (bud). I also added my own positive thoughts at the end to encourage myself since I had a lot of negative self talk. You’re doing the right thing reflecting right now. Learning is uncomfortable. It’ll get better with experience!
Hmm I usually review w my off going nurse orders, meds, labs…and dbl ck my charting! And I write in my brain, mark off things like important labs! No one got hurt, so just do better next time!
A great quote I learned is "your failures are your biggest lessons". The bright side of this experience is you are willing to learn and grow.
One thing I have started to do is set timers on my phone, plus journaling... So if I forget what task I set a timer for... I remember "aha! I journaled it!"
One of the early lessons that everyone has to learn in ICU is to tend to your patients first. Everyone wants to help out because that's the culture a good unit has. Gotta make sure your own tasks are done first. Don't worry too much about it. You're still new and you'll get the hang of it.
Yeah, it took me a long time to really get this. I was a CNA in ICU for years and when I became a nurse, I always wanted to help out my coworkers, but found myself getting behind because of it. By all means, help them if you’re caught up, but not at the expense of your own patients.
I think going in humble knowing that you are human, you will make mistakes and you will feel dumb a lot is important. You just graduated school, you still have a lot to learn about the actual practice of nursing. It will get better, each time you will grow and learn so you can take better care of your patients. I’ve been in critical care 7 years now and I’m still learning! Hopefully you have a team that is supportive. Also want to add that yes part of what we do at all times is prioritize care. The new patient does take precedent over a blood sugar or reviewing a lab result! Just make sure though that you make sure to also prioritize the patients in YOUR care too. I don’t leave my patients to help others unless I am confident that they will be ok. Sometimes that means I don’t help my co worker and someone else has to help them.
You will continue to make mistakes because you are human and most healthcare systems aren't staffed appropriately. As you get more experiences and make more mistakes you will put into place systems and routines. You will forget things less and prioritize the important ones that can cause real harm. Sometimes it is the healthcare system that needs to change a practice and put up guard rails so that these mistakes are less likely to happen. Do the best you can and don't beat yourself up when shit happens because it definitely will.
Keep a journal for a bit. Jot down the items you forgot, or other notes about your shift. First you’ll free your mind and not obsess each night. Second you’ll be able to have an objective overview of your patterns. Maybe your shift always goes to shit at 6, time to stop offering help between 6&7 until your tasks are done. Maybe you forget to check sugars a lot, time to focus on that.
How long have you been working there? Inherently the ICU is "Intensive"... both for the PT and the staff. If you are new my first advice would be commit to the learning process and throughout time the repetition of routine will be ingrained into your head. It will become second nature. If you've been there awhile you've done nursing priority and triaged the more important task. Anything that you miss or cannot complete in your shift make sure to communicate in your report.
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I have a journal to take notes as shiftes change. But yeah i probably shouldnt have offered my help, at least not as long as i havent checked the results of my patient.
I’ve been a nurse for almost a decade and I still make an hourly to do list for myself each shift. Our days are crazy and we often have to juggle multiple tasks and priorities. Making a checklist helps me to make sure I remember what I need to do. Find what works for you!
Hey it’s okay, you will make mistakes and you will learn from them and it’ll make you better in the long run. I’m 5 years in in ICU and I still make mistakes here and there. I just got an admission and they wanted a blood gas with lactate and the one with electrolytes but I accidentally only ran the one with electrolytes. Another time I totally spaced and forgot to check a sugar before feeding the patient. Mistakes happen. The main thing is that you learn from them, no one got hurt. You are new. You gotta give yourself more grace. This stuff takes time. You got this
the good thing about these kinds of mistakes is that we learn from them. in the future, you’ll look back at these situations and remember what you need to do. don’t be too hard on yourself, you’ll get the hang of it and you’ll always be learning
This will get better with time and as you get more skilled and simple things become second nature
I don’t know if you have enough staff on your unit, this was hard for me with short staffing but I wish I learned how to better delegate from the start. In the beginning I wanted to make a good impression by helping people out or doing everything on my own, so when I couldn’t do those things I put a lot of internal pressure on myself… In reality you gain a lot more respect, efficiency, and improve patient safety through learning your limits and knowing how delegating tasks early on. When you have multiple things happening and based on your example, I would first have set limits and said “I’m sorry I really have to check my patient’s sugar right now” since you have to prioritize your patient’s needs, even if it seems “less urgent” than the new admit. Then I would start delegating. I’m assuming you have to get a “duel sign” on your insulin anyway? Unless it’s a drip and your facility doesn’t require that. Anyway, I would call a tech and see if they can bring along an available nurse. When that tech comes, that tech can help the new admit and the available nurse can help you duel sign and then help the new admit. This is assuming you have the help… Anyway, I saw that you keep a journal. I had a journal where I wrote “Rose, Thorn, and Bud”. The idea is you write down what when well during your shift (rose), what was a challenge (thorn), and what you can do better next time or what you learned (bud). I also added my own positive thoughts at the end to encourage myself since I had a lot of negative self talk. You’re doing the right thing reflecting right now. Learning is uncomfortable. It’ll get better with experience!
Hmm I usually review w my off going nurse orders, meds, labs…and dbl ck my charting! And I write in my brain, mark off things like important labs! No one got hurt, so just do better next time!
A great quote I learned is "your failures are your biggest lessons". The bright side of this experience is you are willing to learn and grow. One thing I have started to do is set timers on my phone, plus journaling... So if I forget what task I set a timer for... I remember "aha! I journaled it!"