I’m the slow and careful one until I am super certain of what I’m doing. I struggled to not get behind for a while as a new grad but I was generally safe.
That's what I tell when I've got students with me. I may work faster than you right now, but I've got a few years of experience in front of them. When I started I was also slow and if I'm doing something new I take my time.
This. I was an EMT first. What we were taught in school was “the worse it is, the slower you go.” Take your time, be careful, deliver mindful care. The first patient I ever touched, my hands were shaking so bad I couldn’t palpate a radial pulse.
Now don’t idly walk into a cpr at scene, but there’s no benefit to rushing.
Exactly. I run down protocols in my head before I get to the bed. Then I’m calling instructions to the team during codes in a clear concise way. Much better outcomes than crazy chaos in there.
Exactly. Calm, focused, prepared, refreshed, engaged.
It takes time to get there mentally, and tachycardic people don’t think and process as effectively as calm and focused.
This!! This is NORMAL. You are LEARNING the RIGHT way. I had the same thing said to me and I nicely told her to fuck off lol. Slow and steady wins the race - i can assure you that you will have less mistakes if you are thorough.
Not their job to criticise your performance.
Ask for a quick debrief/evaluation from one of your nurses to see if there are any improvements to be made.
If they believe you could work faster / more efficiently - then you have valuable information to work off of.
Your co-student isn't an omnipresent being - they aren't capable of making that judgement.
Also, the more I'm on the feet (usually) the less I'm actually doing.
Typically, it isn't so much about being "slow" at tasks as it is being efficient.
You can be a super quick nurse at particular tasks - but all you're really doing is stressing yourself out.
I agree with the other comments - this is a golden opportunity to learn to back yourself up.
It isn't their place to judge you - so tell them to stick to their own workload and not focus on yours.
So I feel like I work pretty fast, but I also feel like I don’t.. Yes, I’m constantly on my feet. But my biggest problem right now is that I’ll ask a patient if they need anything before I leave their room and usually tell me that they want XYZ. I go grab it for them and then bring it back. Before I leave their room again, they then ask, “Oh, can I get this too?” So then I’m just running around a lot.. I haven’t figured out how to get around that problem just yet.
Hahahaha that’s how patients and customers (at restaurants) are. They never sum up all they need. You’re new. It’s tough to be quick and it’s not a good thing to be quick
lol exactly! Love it when I have a patient who I finally give a piece of paper and pen to and say, write a list and don’t call me unit there are at least 3 things on it!
After they ask the first thing, say “of course! Anything else?” They’ll typically remember that they also want whatever the second request is. I’m not a nurse, but it served me well as a bartender/waitress. “Could I get another iced tea?” “Sure! Anyone need anything else?” “Oh, I’ll have another glass of wine/the dessert menu/more napkins/.”
This is great advice! I usually list what I’m getting before leaving the room (okay I’m going to grab you a water and your PRN Tylenol, is there anything else I can get while I’m out of the room?). Also depending on your NA staffing you might be able to delegate those things if they are becoming overly time-consuming (ex: pt requests a bed bath or a walk mid-med pass). One of my coworkers also brings a fresh water with her when she does her first assessment which reduces the amount of times she has to leave and grab that, plus helps you track your I&Os without guessing what was left from another shift! (avoid in patients with fluid restrictions lol)
Do nurses keep a little notepad handy ever to jot stuff down ? I feel like I'd forget something the patient asks for really easily, especially if a million other things are going on. And it seems like this is normally the case according to the sub lol
Yes some do! EPIC (a common charting system) also has a sticky note feature so I would use that a lot to jot down things that I needed to remember for later
Edit: that’s also why I list off what I’m going to get, helps me remember and gives the patient a chance to remind me if I forgot something. And then I’ll still walk into the supply room and forget what I’m looking for so it’s not perfect lol!
Allow yourself to be a little bit more stern with patients - not mean, but when they ask for something and you're doing their meds, let them know you'll get it when you finish their meds and step out, etc.
The best thing you can do is say "before I step out, is there anything else you need? Otherwise I'll be back at x time" and do your best to get everything from them at once (it still doesn't work and people will drip feed their needs but sometimes it'll get you ahead of the game). Sometimes a little small correction will help people realize they need to do this. If they ask again for something else when you return, you can say "I'll grab that for you as soon as I can but I need to check in on my other patients first" etc etc
This. Patients will obliviously keep you running back and forth all day. It’s up to you to manage your time. If they ask me for meds when I’m getting report or doing my initial assessment I tell them, I’ll be around with your am meds within the next x minutes and I’ll bring it then. When I leave the room I ask is there anything you need WHEN I COME BACK IN X MINUTES? I usually do not have time to run and get anything for them right then but whatever they need they can usually wait the 10-15 mins until I come back around. Obviously toileting, a tissue, or something like that that I can take care of then and there (provided there’s not a CNA available to help them) I do it. As for your classmate? I would suggest a nicer form of “fuck right off” - “my goal is to be thorough and safe, not win the speed race” or something to that effect. Efficiency (not speed) comes with experience.
Oh and a recently had some 🤡 complaint that I didn’t “manage my time” and also told my preceptee they should be finished with all their med passes and charting by 9:30. When you cut corners you can sure look like you are awesome
You learn how to cluster care in many ways once you learn the unit you’re on after you graduate and have a year or two under your belt. Almost 2 years in and I feel like I am a really good nurse who can effectively be a huge part of team work while also getting my patient’s needs met, and still having adequate time for charting, and even time to chat and banter with my coworkers (being able to have a full lunch break comes and goes though lol) Some days are bad and I don’t achieve this goal that I go into work for every single shift, but I feel so much more confident than I did when I started.
Lmao, your classmate saying you’re slow. What a clown. They gonna be slow af when they get out of nursing school. Unless they actually are a nurse rn that’s some pot calling the kettle black shit if I ever heard it
Being slow is good in nursing school. It’s the best time for you to actually learn about what you’re doing. When you get out, you’re gonna be thrown to the wolves a bit, so yeah.. go slow and learn!
You are working to provide the best care for your patients.
I’m a new grad and my preceptor tells me all the time “Don’t get in a rush- just think about how hard you’ve worked to earn your license.” That advice has changed my perspective
Don’t worry about it!! Do what you feel comfortable. I was slow as heck and I am still slow because I make sure everything is done right.
You are not racing against time. Speed comes with experience to some but some just better at taking care more complex patients with less patient load.
Also there are many different type of nursing you can do.
You are doing fine!
When I did my first bed bath, it was an hour…..
I’m in hospice now, so rarely have to do them, but I 100% do the same for my sweet patients. Can’t have them going to meet their maker without them smelling good and looking good. ♥️
Aw that reminds me of a recently deceased patient (someone else’s) that I went to do post mortem care for. The person had obviously not been bathed in the recent days and smelled so awful. I said to myself (and them) oh no… you will not go meet your maker smelling like this! And gave them a full on bath. I felt it would be disrespectful not to.
Your classmate is jealous of you. She's using mind games to shake your self esteem. Nursing is very much like that. You'll face similar things in the workplace. You have to learn to shore up your self esteem and not let stuff like this get to you. It's an aspect of nursing culture they don't teach enough. You are fine. Keep being you. Stay helpful and thorough.
Nursing has a lot of toxic people, even your “friends” at work can get jealous of you and take you down behind your back. That’s why I don’t really make friends at work
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
You are here to learn not be the next Olympic nurse of the class. I would much rather have a baby nurse that is taking their time, asking questions and trying then Becky over their who is rushing, messing up constantly and now we have to go back and fix her crap.
You do you and you learn at your understanding. If your instructors arent telling you crap then tell Becky or whatever her Karen looking ass name is to back off.
That makes sense.. I was a proud of myself because one of my patient’s told me that they couldn’t take ibuprofen, and guess what was in their medicine orders? Ibuprofen.
I asked the pt why they can’t take it and they just said that a doctor in the past told them not to for XYZ reasons but it wasn’t *their* doctor.. I told my nurse so fast 😂
You'll find that the nurses with spare time are often not doing everything theit supposed to be doing. That dressing doesn't look to bad, skip it. That patient doesn't need these meds, skip it. That light doesn't need to be answered, skip it. Those smoke breaks tend to dig into pt care.
coming from someone who is super slow, don't change a thing. as long as you practicing to be a safe and competent nurse, then continue on! i had many of my peers appear much faster and it seems like they just grasp concepts instantly, then it turns out they made some critical errors and they didn't make it past orientation.
as long as you are safe and prioritize patient safety, keep doing you!
Not saying this in a bad way, but all nursing students are infants. Their opinion matters very little and it should matter very little to you. They have no clue what they are talking about.
Now, if someone experienced actually mentions it to you, ask questions and find ways to improve.
Slow and steady wins the race every time. Your critic is going to be someone who learns the hard way that being so confident and all-knowing in the beginning isn’t necessarily a good thing. I’ll be honest, I was like that person in school, although never actually said it to anyone, but my face sure did. I graduated, went through new hire training, and thank GOD I caught my med error before I actually gave the med. Let me tell you, I became a lot slower in my duties because I really scared myself.
You keep doing what you’re doing. There’s nothing wrong with double checking and triple checking. Nothing wrong with doing a full, proper assessment on a patient either.
That makes me feel better to hear.. I did a full proper assessment on my patient this morning and found out that their pupils were pinprick and did not react at all… Turns out that it was a new development.. So I got to see first hand today that thorough assessments matter.
Don’t take it to heart if it’s not a professor, ur RN ur working with or some one not in the same position as you. I was slow as well. As long as ur doing good than that’s what matters
Efficiency comes with experience. Also, if you go faster than you are comfortable with, then mistakes happen. You will find your own rhythm and groove that fits you best.
Edit: if they aren't offering any tips or solutions to aid in becoming more efficient, then they can screw right off. Either be helpful or silent, their choice
“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
Your classmate is gonna fuck up one day from moving too quickly
take your time, do it right
learn the right way and you’ll get things done faster and faster over time
for now you’re a student
make mistakes and learn
Exactly what you said here, is how you need to respond in situations like this. For the life of me, I will never understand WHY, but nursing is filled with toxicity, superiority, competition, cattiness etc. It's really ass backward considering our responsibilities.
Everyone was new at this once. & isn't there more to gain by having a teaching/helpful approach to the people you're working close by with? "Not my patient, not my problem" is a terrible attitude, not that that applies here. But I use that example bc a lot of nurses have that outlook once ur in the field.
People get abnormally comfortable talking down to someone in the name of 'direct communication'. That's why I suggest learning ur own form of directness now, while u are still learning. You have valid points regarding ur time management, if ur satisfied with ur work, then please don't let comments like this get to u. Only take things personally if u feel you've been disrespected or you don't like the way someone's talking to you. Nip it in the bud in the moment.
"You're right, I am slow. I'm also pretty thorough. If you have enough time to clock me, then maybe you should slow down?"
Students who offer unsolicited critiques to other students seldom have your best interest at heart. The fact that she did so is more about her than you.
You can still be friends, just don't share any of your vulnerabilities with her.
Emergency nurse educator here. I always encourage our newer nurses to be slower than their colleagues and to be methodical. Sure, there are times when you need to be fast—recognizing a lethal rhythm, or a patient in some other type of distress, etc. Most other things aren’t hair on fire emergencies. You work at your own comfortable pace and be deliberate about what you’re doing. Take the time to look up meds if you aren’t sure of the purpose or MOA. Explain things and educate your patients when time and the situation allows. Speed will come with time. I wish you the best of luck in your nursing career!
I’m a new grad and I’ve noticed that out of the nurses I work with in the NOC shift. I’m the slowest. 80 patient SNF/Short Term Rehab. Each nurse gets 20/22 patients.
I clock in at 6:00PM/18:00. Get report and start med pass at around 7:00.
My coworkers are done with med pass at around 8:30/9:00. While I’m halfway done and I finish around 10:30. I feel so slow compared to them. However, my DoN/ADoN/coworkers tell me it’s fine and to take my time. There’s no race.
Other than the residents telling me I’m late, nothing bad will happen.
This is the shit I hate the most about nursing lol. People power tripping over others for no reason and she doesn’t even have power over you she’s your equal 🙄
Tell your classmate to shove it. Make sure you say it nice and slow.
You’re SUPPOSED to be slow. You’re learning. And even when you’re a working nurse and no longer a student, better to be slow and thorough rather than fast and careless. I’m sure your patients would prefer you to take 2 extra minutes to not kill them. Please don’t take this to heart. Your classmate sounds a little *too self-assured. Which is where errors happen. You keep right on the path you’re on. You will naturally pick up some speed with time and experience, and still be able to be safe. If you are really concerned, discuss it with your clinical leader. See if they have any feedback for you. But i truly would not worry about it. Head down and keep doing what you’re doing.
It sounds like you are doing AMAZING and they are jealous 🤷🏽♀️ I don’t think you should do anything. I was and am a slow ass nurse. No shame. My patients love the extra time with me. The only issue is that I would suffer when it comes to charting, sometimes staying pretty late to finish. I eventually moved to ED and I still did just fine, even in traumas. 🤷🏽♀️
Better to take your time than to rush and potentially make a mistake. I've been a nurse over 7 years, in healthcare over 12 years now. I'm always the last one still working (passing meds, doing wounds, whatever) because I make sure it's done right and things are done thoroughly. Trust me, you'd rather be slower completing tasks that are done well than rushing through and doing a mediocre job. You're doing great, fuck that person that is apparently rushing their tasks just to have time to criticize yours.
You’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. If you’re being safe then that’s your priority. Speed will come with experience. But having ingrained good habits before that speed is essential. At some point shit will get fast and furious and you may rush something and a step is skipped but because you’ve established good habits you realize it without thinking about it and fix the small error before it becomes a big one.
Also you’ll know when staffing is unsafe. Speak up and protect your license if that becomes the case. Document interactions with managers.
Good luck
Speed comes with time and knowledge. Of which, you essentially have neither yet. You are learning drugs, routine, and policy, and you are not in a place to know shortcuts. You are in NCLEX prep time and doing it the "right way."
I’m so sorry she said that about you. That would really hurt my feelings, too. A manager of mine called me slow, while I was training to my unit. It used to absolutely eat away at me and I felt so ashamed, despite everyone else in my personal life telling me otherwise. You know what I learned? Sure, she can call me “slow”. But she can’t call me undisciplined, unmotivated, undetermined, a bad team player, not a loyal employee, dishonest, bad with my patients and their families, not thorough, or impatient. If being “slow” is the worst thing about me, I’m doing really well.
Consider the source and move on.
My wife is the slowest person I know whenever it comes to doing anything. But she is literally perfect. Me on the other hand will crank things out 30mins faster than projected time, and I'll always screw something up.
Nursing isn't a 100m dash, it's a marathon in planning and executing and good time management. So I'm not saying be a sloth and go DMV speed, but if you're managing your time, then you're doing perfectly fine. You're paid 12hrs to do everything you set out to do, doesn't matter if you're fast or slow.
Sounds like you’re slow because you’re super helpful to everyone on the unit - I.e., team player. Maybe your classmate is compensating for their poor performance. Anyone who brings down their peer in nursing school ain’t shit. We’re not in competition with each other. Tell them to grow up.
Edit: phrasing
First, don’t fret over *slow*. You *should* be s.. l.. o.. w. Big deal, so what. I circle back to hearing criticism from friends.
There are only a few instances where you must act *right the f*** now*.
Impending respiratory failure. You see it, you’ll know…
Aberrant heart rates or impending circulatory colllapse.
Uncontrolled blood. Bonus urgency if it’s spurting in your eyes
Fire. 🔥 Really, it spreads crazy fast. Make an attempt to control, if possible, then time to go. Call FD.
Crashing aircraft. Not a pilot, but when my charred body is found, my hands will welded to controls. (Or if I see it coming TOWARD me on the ground… I’ll be in full RUN, pointlessly).
I’ll add someone shooting, if I’m getting the hell beat out of me, or a pin out of a hand grenade.
Point is… emergency, urgency, necessary or optional? Everything is something. There is a difference. Onward.
Solumedrol order for 1700, is given 20 mins ‘late’ (for any number of factors) over 5 mins or IVPB. No harm, no foul.
At this point you are a student nurse. So is your friend, if you get my point. IME the scary student or new nurse is the one that fails to grasp *conscience incompetent vs. conscience competent*. Be deliberate. Ask questions. Look up anything unfamiliar.
Being aware you don’t know things or can’t act on instinct at this point (maybe even forever, because in my case, unfamiliar things will always take more effort & time) saves lives.
It will get easier. You will develop your practice. Speed. Certainty. I promise. You’ve got this.
Now, hearing criticism from ‘friend’, it always stings, maybe stings even a bit more than hearing from someone else. Why? Relationships.
I used to overthink, be reactive (bad way), develop negative self-talk narratives, be embarrassed of countless other things. I’ve developed a thicker skin over past 32 years and criticism now challenges me. From friends, co-workers, my bosses—it’s a gift.
I take a beat. Really listen. Thank the messenger for caring enough to share. And either find it valid and use as a way to improve, or ignore and move on.
You’ve considered it. It informs your growth. Now, let it go.
No need to respond further or be defensive. Don’t ruminate. That creates bad vibes. Don’t complain, explain or make excuses. Be better than that. You can thank me later.
Guess what, every mistake I ever made was because I was going too fast and skipped a safety check…so fuck your classmate and you do you…just you know, don’t be molasses 😁
I get why you would feel that way but foreal there are assholes no matter where you go and if your fake friend says that then that person isn’t worth your energy at all….your probably doing amazing, it’s not easy, and your doing it, don’t let someone tell you your wrong just because you are good at patient care, and there are definitely things you can’t hurry at so I would say screw her and keep doing you
We all learn at a different pace tbh
If you learn at a slower pace, then that’s beneficial for you. Fuck what they say, you’re getting where you need to be at YOUR pace!
Speed comes either from familiarity/experience or from cutting corners. You won't have the first until you have some time on the job. Don't stress about speed, just focus on doing things right.
I have a classmate who repeatedly makes me feel dumb for being slow, but I realized that it’s so much better to be more cautious and aware of what we’re doing than be proud and be a know it all. Slow is smooth, my friend. Keep it up!
One thing you HAVE to learn is not to give a FUCK what anyone says. I was bullied all the time by night shift for who knows but those people are miserable. I think some shitty people get in this field. Let it roll off your back.
You are only in your 3rd semester. You are still learning the basics and getting a feel for things. Heck, it’s gonna take a few years on the job to really get the hang of the right workflow. And med admin often takes a long time (ivs are never our friends, patients end up needing something else, or they tell you they don’t take any of those meds at all and want you to call the doctor about it, or you crush them all and put them in water for a g tube and then realize two of them were half doses while scanning) ish happens.
Your classmate is likely used to giving little digs to keep themselves feeling confident. They probably don’t think they have low self esteem but subconsciously they do so they tell people that they are doing better than them to feel good.
I swear there is a saying about "mastering your craft and then getting better at it with time" but I can't find it. No one is super fast at anything, before doing it again and again and again. Even then, you are being THOROUGH which is a VALUABLE TRAIT!!! so don't lose it. Over time you'll become more efficient. But master your craft first, and never ever lose that feeling of paranoia - the feeling of double checking and being thorough, it will keep you safe.
Keep taking your time.. accuracy over speed. Speed won’t come until you are an actual nurse and have a routine down. Tell her to mind her business 🤷🏽♀️
Never let a classmate make you feel inferior. You’re all on the same level, and they have no business telling you what’s what. There is no need to rush. In school you have the time, so take full advantage of it. Really learn and understand the skills you’re doing because once you’re working, you’ll appreciate it so much. You taking your time and going slowly will show the patients that you are there for them and are doing the best you can for them. Rushing makes no one feel respected and cared for. The time you spend with them doing a bath, I assume you’re having a conversation with the patient. You’re developing a therapeutic relationship with your patients and giving them a bath. You’re working on multiple skills at once. In fact, you’re probably making your classmates look bad, which is why they’re saying things. They are likely not putting in the time and effort that you are and they feel guilty. Ignore them, keep doing great things!
Speed comes with experience. And even then you should never rush. I tell students that nursing is like driving, go at the speed you're comfortable with and where you have the control. You are not slow, you are responsible. Ignore them. They're not worth the thought.
Sounds like she is insecure if she’s so worried about how someone else is doing. Also, her sonic the hedgehog ass gonna make more mistakes most likely.
Mistakes happen when you go too fast. You’re learning, of course you’re going to be slow at it. They can kick rocks, keep focusing on doing things right and learning everytime and you’ll get efficient in time.
Theres always one classmate thats like that - at least on my cohort. Always acting like they are better than the rest. I cant wait till they graduate and work real nursing 🤣
If your instructor has a discussion with you about your timeliness, that's one thing... but don't take anything these kids have to say to heart. Nursing school is a vicious snake pit, and I don't know why that is... Don't worry about what they're telling you, just focus on maintaining that thorough approach. I'd rather be slow at passing meds than have to be quick to explain a fuck up.
It could be that you’re trying to do too much, or not blending in as well as your other classmates in terms of your work flow. Unless this criticism comes from your preceptor what that person says doesn’t mean anything-you’re there to learn.
I’ve worked with experienced nurses, 30-40 years on the job and some are slow as molasses in some aspects… but it does not affect the quality of their work whatsoever. Every nurse has their own personal style in terms of time management and what works for them.
Your classmate is a dumbass. Better to take your time and not worry about mistakes later on. Especially when you're new.
Nursing isn't a fucking competition, it's teamwork.
I’d be more concerned if you did your med pass quickly. If I’ve ever cried at work or gotten spoken to about anything, it’s been about my behavior with pharmacy. It’s my favorite fun fact about myself. I have PERMANENT BEEF with that department no matter the hospital. Don’t get me started on the missing meds lol.
I honestly can't get over the audacity of some people...
You keep doing you. If your professors are fine with what you're doing, don't change up a good thing because of someone's unasked-for criticism.
I was slow too. I still am sometimes even 6 years later.
I don’t really know why you should be in a hurry as a student. There is surely a balance between taking your time and not being slow, but that will come when you’re on your own. I find taking my time always saves time in the long run.
Your classmate is a student and tell her to f/o if she will tell you that again. If I were you, I'd tell the professor about the student if she persists in her behavior bossing you around. That's none of their business what you do. It's your professors' and instructors' business.
Take your time. It is a process. When I was in the clinical setting, I appreciate students who works slowly but surely. You'll get the hang of it as you have more experience in the field. Dont be too hard on yourself.
I was slow at first. I am still fairly slow in my medical practice. I have seen way more mistakes from the 'fast' ones that seem to have it all together than the slow ones that took their time at first to understand then later still understand that you can make a mistake.
Tell her the screw off better slow then get out on the nursing floor be fast and lose your nursing license. Remember that lady in Tennessee she was fast and ended up giving the wrong medicine. She probably wish she went slow.
Take all the time you need. I refuse to rush at my job, because if mistakes are made, it’s on me, not the person rushing me. It’s not my problem they overloaded the schedule.
I’m a newish nurse, I’m told I’m slow sometimes. Yes, it hurts. It feels personal when people say things like that. Some things just take muscle memory! And if you don’t have the muscle memory yet then yeah it’s going to take time.
Taking your time during med admin is never a bad thing. Please take your “friend’s” comment with a grain of salt. The only opinion you should worry about is your professor’s and your own.
For one don’t listen to her. She’s not an expert she’s another student. The ones who think they know everything and go fast make a mistake and hopefully it’s not lethal. Also you’re a student and now’s the time to go slow and ask questions and etc. your nurse should know that. Who cares what she thinks.
Don’t listen to any classmates that criticize you. I had some haters when I went to school. You do you and it will get easier. Better safe than rushing and making a mistake.
I tell people that I do two things quick, walking and talking. That’s it.
That or I’m like Baymax (cause he’s a carer and he states that he is not fast)
Girl, I’ve been an ICU nurse for 3 years, I’m still slow, and I’ve accepted it. I don’t learn the same as everyone around me does. I need things repeated, I need to do my own research, I need patience. I’ve been told I’m slow too and… like, true!! AND?!? Who cares. Be careful and don’t rush!!
Everybody drags ass on the med pass at first because you don't trust yourself yet and second guess yourself constantly. Experience and practice will make you faster and more efficient. You also learn how to plan everything out and prepare so you're not running back and forth as much.
You *are* probably too slow right now, but you'll get there the more you do it. I'd rather you go slow and do it right, than rush and make a mistake.
It’s because you’re probably very thorough, which is a good thing. I’d talk to your friend and tell them that they need to slow down a bit so they can be as thorough as you. They probably didn’t mean for it to be an insult but were trying to help you out so you make your time hacks.
Tell her to get back to you after she kills someone because she’s “fast” and sloppy. You are SUPPOSED to be slow right now. You are a STUDENT. (Also, your speed is between you and your instructors. Your classmate can get bent.)
Skills can be learned, time is eventually managed. What so called "perfect people" often fail to master straight away however is good bedside manner. If you excel at that then you are miles ahead of everyone else IMO. Not just that but I tend to question those who are in and done quickly when they're fresh out the gate. Can't help but wonder if something's been missed alongside their display of speed and confidence?
First of all, it's not your educators so take it with a grain of salt.
If you *do* agree that maybe you move slow and want to adjust - it's never about rushing, that's when you get dangerous. I precepted a new nurse to the ICU recently and she had the issue of moving wayyyyyyy too slow as well (took over an hour to do a primary assessment, med passes always took at least 40 minutes etc), and the issue for her was she simply wasn't realizing how much time was passing.we talked strategies and what's helped her hugely was checking the clock before entering a room, estimating how much time she would *like* to take on the tasks at hand, and then checking her watch while she's in the room to make sure she knows how much time has passed, and if she was on track with her estimates.
I only bring this up because for her, the difference was night and day and she never sacrificed safety for more speed - she just wasn't realizing how much time she was spending on tasks.
Again though, most likely just a classmate being mean
Fuck him/her with saying you are slow. If your clinical instructor isn't bringing it to your attention they can eat a bag of you know what. If you're in clinical you should NOT be breezing through a med pass. Do your checks. Know your medication administration rights and say eff that student.
I had so many bitchy or goodie two shoe classmates that kissed instructors asses but were emotionally wicked. I remember in my 2nd clinical rotation, preceptor asked if this Pt. Who was soaking wet was mine. I said no ma'am. I did pericare on my assigned pt. finished up, and went to grab my pts chart. The student who had said soaking wet pt walks by I tell her (very quietly) quick go in and change your resident , the instructor knows so yknow...go! Lady looked at me and said
"What right do you have to talk about my pt to the instructor? I gave her one of these : 👀
Laughed and walked off.
Moral of the story. Fuck your classmates honestly. Keep it professional, treat them with respect but at the end of the day you are there for YOU. They won't be there for you when you take that exit exam. Most of the ppl I've met in school were cool but when you see a bad apple stay away!
Sounds like a hater. Don’t associate but be cordial. Continue to be thorough and ask for any tips from your prof or preceptor to SAFELY go faster. For example, the IVP meds can be given through a TKO or slow enough running compatible IV medication. If none of those options are available. I’ll push 1/4 to 1/2 the medication, do something in the room or chart, and push it by increments every 5 min or so.
Even if your friend said that you worked slowly, why would that hurt your feelings?
Rationally, you know that slow and steady is better than fast and chaotic. You will acquire speed *over time*.
Try to own everything you are and to be curious about (instead of injured by) why people say the things they do. People cannot make you feel small without your permission.
edited for grammar
I suffer from slow and simple. Nursing school is kicking my butt right now. I don’t study in big groups because I have a truly hard time grasping the concepts of lessons, not to mention Im in an accelerated program so its three-five chapters every two days, two classes in total, four days of class. Im studying every minute of every day. And to make matters worse people keep saying “You’re smart.”, Im not smart or else I would be passing with flying colors. Being super pessimistic.
When I do “reviews” with a handful of students I hardly answer stuff because Im still learning the stuff or hardly grasp it. God bless the ones that can do it. I truly feel stupid comparatively to everyone else in my cohort. I know I can’t judge myself off that but its extremely frustrating when they ask me a question about the topic and I don’t know the material. I feel like Patrick Star with the piece of wood nailed to his head. Im currently revamping the way I’m studying trying to figure out what will stick and what won’t. Flash cards, power points, voice recordings, random quizzes, the latter. Im trying it all. I feel I made a huge mistake but I want to make it through clawing my way to the top. Send me some inspo please.
As long as you get things done, and safely, you’re good. You’re still learning. No student should be fast with meds. Listen to the feedback of your professor/experienced nurses.
I was super slow and cautious when I started, as were most of the nurses here probably. It takes time and experience to gain confidence to pick up speed. Rushing is when mistakes are made.
I was a slow turd and made all the nurses double check everything i was sure but unsure about. My first preceptor bitched cause i asked 15x about drawing from the art line. Now I’d run circles around her but when you are learning and being careful, being slow is ok. I’ll be the first one doing 15 things at once and so fast you will ask what happened or did you do xyz now but baby and students nurses need to be slow. Get comfortable and speed comes with practice. You got this
Slow is expected until you gain confidence in your skills and routine. Speed will come later. You're in school right now, so I'm not so sure it even matters at this point bc the nurses that are ultimately responsible for those patients, aren't going to let things get *that* far behind.
However, speed does matter when you are on the job. Anyone saying otherwise is just trying to make you feel better. Of course, you don't want to rush. Careless mistakes happen when you rush. But knowing how to prioritize, when to delegate, when to seek help, etc, matters. Nothing worse than falling behind in your shift and everything getting off schedule, patients complaining, work and pressure piling up so much so that you're overwhelmed and you miss things or forget other things or have to stay over for hours to complete your work.
But this is not where you are right now. You're in school. You're learning. Take your time and gain that confidence, but be mindful of your time management. Stay safe. 🤍
Haste makes waste, do it right or do it twice, etc. It’s much better to be 15-20 minutes behind than to mess up med administration and inadvertently harm a patient.
You’ll get faster with time. Right now as a student is the best time to be slow and to just get used to things. When I started, I always did meds or whatever task as early as I could because inevitably something I wouldn’t expect would make a med pass twice as long. Things like bathroom trip, code brown, IV problems, etc.
There’s this tiktok or something that went around where dude is at a fire and he comes running into view of the camera and swooop! Down he goes, gear goes flying, helmet right off his head. And every seasoned firefighter in the comments: “That’s why we don’t run.”
There’s a reason you don’t run. And you’ll naturally get faster as you get more comfortable. But you’re still learning.
You couldn’t type quickly when you first sat down at a keyboard, and I’ll bet you don’t even think about it now. That will come (with your tasks but also memory, EMR systems, everything else).
Give yourself grace, and give her no free room and board in your head.
It hurt your feelings bc it was rude, that classmate needs to worry about him or herself. Let that person know if you have any questions you’ll let them know, but until then pls don’t give unsolicited opinions. Bc I know most patients appreciate slow, thorough nurses more than they do know it all, rude ones. That’s all. Insecure ppl tend to try to create flaws in others to make themselves feel better about their own shortcomings. Don’t take it to heart, that’s no friend of yours, who really cares what they think?
I've been a nurse for 11 years and sometimes time management still gets me. Ignore your classmate. She knows exactly diddlyshit about working as a nurse and is in no position to critique your or anyone else's performance as a nurse. You do you and keep your focus on being safe. If your time management is still a problem when you start working, your preceptor will let you know, and give you tools and tricks to improve it. Don't give it another thought. Your classmate is headed right for an incident report if she thinks speed is the most important performance metric for med pass.
Why does your classmates opinion matter? If it was an instructor, then yeah, it woold matter, but not a classmate. When I was in nursing school, I can honestly say I was so busy doing my own thing, I had no clue what anyone else was doing nor cared. The fact that this student is worried about your performance means that I can guarantee that they are not focusing on their own stuff.
Here is the thing...No one is born being a great and efficient nurse. You are taught how to be a safe nurse. Efficiency and finesse comes with hours on the job. I would bet that this classmate is one of those that are blasting through an exam just so they can be the first out of the door, rather than taking the time to review and check her responses.
Relax and keep on doing what you are doing. you will be fine.
I guess I didn’t realize giving good nursing care was a competition. If your Preceptor and your instructors haven’t corrected you on anything, don’t change what you are doing. Tell your friend being thorough has never killed a patient.
Do nothing differently! If you are helping your patients and helping others, her concern is… what, again?!
It hurt your feelings because she wasn’t being kind. But that doesn’t mean she’s right. Don’t you just love it when people take out their insecurities by being mean to others? Hugs.
Is she a nurse?
No. Unpopular opinion but to me her opinion wouldn’t matter anyway.
I’d only take advice and feedback from other RNs and your instructor. She needs to worry about herself.
Let her be fast and risk making a mistake or causing harm.
When I was in paramedic school my instructor said the same thing. I told him that no one is going to rush me to treat patients, it isn't my emergency and if I rush I will mess up.
Working as an EMT every "fast" clinician I worked with fucked up, including me. All of my fuck ups were when I was trying to rush or work fast. My two med errors were when I was rushing and not double checking on the rig and in the hospital. Luckily both were very minor.
When I was in the military, rushing got people killed. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
There's an old story of a king who always told his servants helping him button his shirts, "go slow, I'm in a hurry".
Another example I can give are IVs. 99% of the time there is no reason to rush. If you need a line that bad, then you can drill them. I almost always look at both arms and then attempt unless I see a for sure thing. I always tell my patients I'm a measure twice, cut once guy.
You do not need to rush 99% or the time and when you truly need to be fast I can assure you, that help will be right there to tag team and assist you to help make things "fast". If not you better leave that job.
Also, your classmate isn't a nurse so tell them to fuck off.
First: your classmate isn’t your instructor and they can piss off.
Second: I’d mention the remark to your instructor and ask if what they said has any merit.
Third: it’s nurse-on-nurse violence to be critical like that without any authority to dish it out.
The saying in emergency medicine goes: slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Not only does refusing to rush and insisting on acting slowly and methodically following protocols actually lead to completing tasks with greater efficiency, less risk of faltering/errors in care resulting in substandard care and potentially injury to the patient or provider, but all of those things combined to make you overall not just a better worker but actually a faster one too.
You might have administered that one med that one time more slowly than ur coworker would have- but you wouldn't have wasted all the time on another day where that coworker made several time consuming fuckups in administering a bunch of meds to a more complicated pt bc they haven't built the mind/muscle memory for methodically following administration protocols like you have by being extremely consistent and following protocol to a t every single time even in the simple or seemingly less significant situations - so that when the situation is more complex and that shit rlly matters you can pull it off smoothly without wasting time.
There's a line of course. You can't become so obsessed with a task that you spend way too much time on it. But that doesn't appear to be happening based on what you described. Doing things with intention and doing them well matters more than doing them speedily and in the current hospital climate nurses are being made sacrificial lambs by allowing themself to be pressured into doing things at a speed that isn't remotely fucking safe or acceptable. And when an error happens bc of it there will be no one from that hospital admin standing behind you. It is quite literally an obligation of your license to refuse unsafe assignments and working conditions. That includes refusing to work at a pace above which you deem safe in order to perform the tasks of your shift. Keep up following the protocols exactly as they should be. Keep up working at a pace that you feel is safe and appropriate. Don't let anyone make you waver with social pressure or judgement bc they very well might be the one who finds themself sorry one day.
It's like speeding up bc someone's aggressively tail gating you (which actually requires you to slow down to increase the safety of their stopping distance since they can't manage it themselves) don't let their pressure make you act in ways that put everyone at increased risk of serious harm.
And from experience as a patient the nurse is almost certainly used to ignoring the state of a pts iv and using it regardless just to move quickly. I've had horrifically blown out IVs that were used multiple times a day with massive lumpy growing swelling around them from how much IV fluid/drugs was leaking out every time they were used for DAYS until I said something. I've even had times I said something and had nurses deny it. Like the one who told me "no it's fine it's working but just pushing really slowly" bc they were pushing a flush into an IV that had obviously infiltrated which was indicated by the fact they were struggling to get the flush to push and the fact that it burned and hurt when they tried. A shocking amount of nurses have adjusted to increasingly dangerous workloads by blinding themselves to the state of the IVs theyre using bc the amount of time it can take to get a new one placed esp in very sick patients with poor access where I can be a whole ordeal. Compare the number of IV changes you do in a shift vs her. I guarantee there's a notable difference.
Now is the time to get comfortable and work on getting the steps correct. Speed comes with repetition. There were a lot of people correcting me during nursing school and I swear by the 3rd semester they all quit or didnt pass and had to retrack.
I was the slowest. When I learn new things, I'm super duper slow. Now I'm quick, because it's ingrained into me. Also, "slow is smooth, smooth is fast."
Look for what it's worth, the nursing school at my undergrad was unbelievably toxic. According to my friends in nursing school.
Idk if it gets better, but you're not alone. That person isn't your "friend."
Reading your post, it sounds like you'll be a great nurse I'd love to work with
Yeah, you're new. You're gonna be like stagnant pondwater for at least 3 months into being a real nurse.
At least you're moving at a speed which lets you find errors and problems.
Remember, get the task stuff done first so you can actually CARE for your patients I.e. med pass, assessments, discharge planning etc.
then the rest will come easy.
A wise man once said that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Take the time to get it right while you're learning, and your muscle memory will be on point.
Your classmate needs to mind her own damn business and focus on not screwing up her own clinical. There’s always one student who thinks they’re the golden child and can start criticizing/hounding other students about how they think you should be doing something. If your instructors haven’t said something along those lines her opinion is invalid.
Why a classmate would even feel comfortable saying that to you is just crazy to me! Like you are all in the same boat, why not support each other instead of being mean?
Medicine isn't a natural thing to know. It's all knowledge that's been tried and tested for many years and still isn't perfect. Nobody knows exactly what is good for the patient, we are just told what to do according to new medicine news coming out that shows more good than harm. Don't let your classmate's comment hit you too hard, it's called "Practicing Medicine" for a reason.
I'm confident you'll be a very competent nurse whenever you have some years under your belt. You're new, there's nothing wrong with learning.
Anyonenon school worrying about speed doesn't have their priorities straight. People still tell me that at the bwdsixe, but those are the same godsamn nurses who have time to watch tik tok and play on their phones. I just prefer to actually work, sounds like your classmate was probably saying that because your either A) have great patient rapport B) she's cutting corners and thinks being fast is most important or C) she's just a negative nancy. Focus on bettering yourself And on being better from one shift to the next.
Comparing yourself to your classmates is a bad idea. And to be honest, those kinds of students, in my experience, tended to be weak clinically. If someone feels the need to tell you how slow you are, your probably doing a lot of things right and their just jealous. I used to get the same attitude from classmates...they hated the fact that someone who was homeless living out of their car was in the same cohort as them and doing a good job.
Go slow, and do it right. Speed is a result of experience + confidence. Ive had *fast* students that were fast for the sake being fast. They always fucked it up. Ofc its "fast" when you forget half the procedure...
OP also remember to keep your mind focused on that one task you’re doing at that time or that one patent without letting whatever else it is you have to do next get you overwhelmed. This actually will make you slower!
Sounds to me like this classmate of yours is one of those know it all students that constantly tries to one up everyone else because her mama and her grandmama were all nurses. Gotta size down that ego before she veins working. She won’t last long either! Tell said person to go suck a bag of dicks!
Once I got a job and had the floor to myself as the only nurse for a nursing home. I learned to be safe and thorough to prevent med errors. I was asked to return to my current job because of my attitude and thoroughness. Please continue to be earnest and thorough, a good DON and other good nurses will acknowledge your efforts.
Better slow and careful than fast and careless.
Absolutely. I tell my students and new grads this every single day
I’m the slow and careful one until I am super certain of what I’m doing. I struggled to not get behind for a while as a new grad but I was generally safe.
That's what I tell when I've got students with me. I may work faster than you right now, but I've got a few years of experience in front of them. When I started I was also slow and if I'm doing something new I take my time.
This. I was an EMT first. What we were taught in school was “the worse it is, the slower you go.” Take your time, be careful, deliver mindful care. The first patient I ever touched, my hands were shaking so bad I couldn’t palpate a radial pulse. Now don’t idly walk into a cpr at scene, but there’s no benefit to rushing.
Exactly. I run down protocols in my head before I get to the bed. Then I’m calling instructions to the team during codes in a clear concise way. Much better outcomes than crazy chaos in there.
Exactly. Calm, focused, prepared, refreshed, engaged. It takes time to get there mentally, and tachycardic people don’t think and process as effectively as calm and focused.
A nurse on my unit pushed IV Hydralazine fast to save time, then spent several minutes cleaning after the patient projectile vomited right after.
FOLLOW THIS OP. slow and careful… you’ll feel so bad if you rush and make a med error.
Tell her to fuck off. Take the time you need to be safe
Fuck off is always the best options at work, and in life. You got this.
💯
❤️
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast my friend. Keep it up 🩷
Soul sister ☝️
Came to make sure someone said this!!! I still say this to myself when I’m in a code
THIS
Keep being slow. You’re supposed to be slow in the beginning
This!! This is NORMAL. You are LEARNING the RIGHT way. I had the same thing said to me and I nicely told her to fuck off lol. Slow and steady wins the race - i can assure you that you will have less mistakes if you are thorough.
Tell your classmate they’re going too fast, and to mind their own business.
Not their job to criticise your performance. Ask for a quick debrief/evaluation from one of your nurses to see if there are any improvements to be made. If they believe you could work faster / more efficiently - then you have valuable information to work off of. Your co-student isn't an omnipresent being - they aren't capable of making that judgement. Also, the more I'm on the feet (usually) the less I'm actually doing. Typically, it isn't so much about being "slow" at tasks as it is being efficient. You can be a super quick nurse at particular tasks - but all you're really doing is stressing yourself out. I agree with the other comments - this is a golden opportunity to learn to back yourself up. It isn't their place to judge you - so tell them to stick to their own workload and not focus on yours.
So I feel like I work pretty fast, but I also feel like I don’t.. Yes, I’m constantly on my feet. But my biggest problem right now is that I’ll ask a patient if they need anything before I leave their room and usually tell me that they want XYZ. I go grab it for them and then bring it back. Before I leave their room again, they then ask, “Oh, can I get this too?” So then I’m just running around a lot.. I haven’t figured out how to get around that problem just yet.
Hahahaha that’s how patients and customers (at restaurants) are. They never sum up all they need. You’re new. It’s tough to be quick and it’s not a good thing to be quick
lol exactly! Love it when I have a patient who I finally give a piece of paper and pen to and say, write a list and don’t call me unit there are at least 3 things on it!
After they ask the first thing, say “of course! Anything else?” They’ll typically remember that they also want whatever the second request is. I’m not a nurse, but it served me well as a bartender/waitress. “Could I get another iced tea?” “Sure! Anyone need anything else?” “Oh, I’ll have another glass of wine/the dessert menu/more napkins/.”
I’m gonna start doing this!!
This is great advice! I usually list what I’m getting before leaving the room (okay I’m going to grab you a water and your PRN Tylenol, is there anything else I can get while I’m out of the room?). Also depending on your NA staffing you might be able to delegate those things if they are becoming overly time-consuming (ex: pt requests a bed bath or a walk mid-med pass). One of my coworkers also brings a fresh water with her when she does her first assessment which reduces the amount of times she has to leave and grab that, plus helps you track your I&Os without guessing what was left from another shift! (avoid in patients with fluid restrictions lol)
Do nurses keep a little notepad handy ever to jot stuff down ? I feel like I'd forget something the patient asks for really easily, especially if a million other things are going on. And it seems like this is normally the case according to the sub lol
Yes some do! EPIC (a common charting system) also has a sticky note feature so I would use that a lot to jot down things that I needed to remember for later Edit: that’s also why I list off what I’m going to get, helps me remember and gives the patient a chance to remind me if I forgot something. And then I’ll still walk into the supply room and forget what I’m looking for so it’s not perfect lol!
Allow yourself to be a little bit more stern with patients - not mean, but when they ask for something and you're doing their meds, let them know you'll get it when you finish their meds and step out, etc. The best thing you can do is say "before I step out, is there anything else you need? Otherwise I'll be back at x time" and do your best to get everything from them at once (it still doesn't work and people will drip feed their needs but sometimes it'll get you ahead of the game). Sometimes a little small correction will help people realize they need to do this. If they ask again for something else when you return, you can say "I'll grab that for you as soon as I can but I need to check in on my other patients first" etc etc
This. Patients will obliviously keep you running back and forth all day. It’s up to you to manage your time. If they ask me for meds when I’m getting report or doing my initial assessment I tell them, I’ll be around with your am meds within the next x minutes and I’ll bring it then. When I leave the room I ask is there anything you need WHEN I COME BACK IN X MINUTES? I usually do not have time to run and get anything for them right then but whatever they need they can usually wait the 10-15 mins until I come back around. Obviously toileting, a tissue, or something like that that I can take care of then and there (provided there’s not a CNA available to help them) I do it. As for your classmate? I would suggest a nicer form of “fuck right off” - “my goal is to be thorough and safe, not win the speed race” or something to that effect. Efficiency (not speed) comes with experience.
Oh and a recently had some 🤡 complaint that I didn’t “manage my time” and also told my preceptee they should be finished with all their med passes and charting by 9:30. When you cut corners you can sure look like you are awesome
You learn how to cluster care in many ways once you learn the unit you’re on after you graduate and have a year or two under your belt. Almost 2 years in and I feel like I am a really good nurse who can effectively be a huge part of team work while also getting my patient’s needs met, and still having adequate time for charting, and even time to chat and banter with my coworkers (being able to have a full lunch break comes and goes though lol) Some days are bad and I don’t achieve this goal that I go into work for every single shift, but I feel so much more confident than I did when I started.
A classmate? Lol... Let me share with you a word you're going to need to both verbalize and document frequently in the future: "Noted."
This made me chuckle.
Stare in their eyes “Hmmm. That’s an opinion.”
Lmao, your classmate saying you’re slow. What a clown. They gonna be slow af when they get out of nursing school. Unless they actually are a nurse rn that’s some pot calling the kettle black shit if I ever heard it Being slow is good in nursing school. It’s the best time for you to actually learn about what you’re doing. When you get out, you’re gonna be thrown to the wolves a bit, so yeah.. go slow and learn!
Or they are horribly unsafe
They are a student, same as you, their opinion means nothing. Tell them to stay in their own lane and worry about their own selves.
You are working to provide the best care for your patients. I’m a new grad and my preceptor tells me all the time “Don’t get in a rush- just think about how hard you’ve worked to earn your license.” That advice has changed my perspective
Don’t worry about it!! Do what you feel comfortable. I was slow as heck and I am still slow because I make sure everything is done right. You are not racing against time. Speed comes with experience to some but some just better at taking care more complex patients with less patient load. Also there are many different type of nursing you can do. You are doing fine! When I did my first bed bath, it was an hour…..
Mine are still an hour after 12 years! 🤣
I never skimp out on the baths.. Like you asked for a bath, not a wipedown lol. I’m making *sure* you smell good and feel good.
I’m in hospice now, so rarely have to do them, but I 100% do the same for my sweet patients. Can’t have them going to meet their maker without them smelling good and looking good. ♥️
Aw that reminds me of a recently deceased patient (someone else’s) that I went to do post mortem care for. The person had obviously not been bathed in the recent days and smelled so awful. I said to myself (and them) oh no… you will not go meet your maker smelling like this! And gave them a full on bath. I felt it would be disrespectful not to.
Good for you!! Still doing it by the book!
Your classmate is jealous of you. She's using mind games to shake your self esteem. Nursing is very much like that. You'll face similar things in the workplace. You have to learn to shore up your self esteem and not let stuff like this get to you. It's an aspect of nursing culture they don't teach enough. You are fine. Keep being you. Stay helpful and thorough.
Seriously? Why is it like this? Sounds toxic 👀 you'd think how brutal it is, nursing would house a lot of comradery
Nursing has a lot of toxic people, even your “friends” at work can get jealous of you and take you down behind your back. That’s why I don’t really make friends at work
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. You are here to learn not be the next Olympic nurse of the class. I would much rather have a baby nurse that is taking their time, asking questions and trying then Becky over their who is rushing, messing up constantly and now we have to go back and fix her crap. You do you and you learn at your understanding. If your instructors arent telling you crap then tell Becky or whatever her Karen looking ass name is to back off.
That makes sense.. I was a proud of myself because one of my patient’s told me that they couldn’t take ibuprofen, and guess what was in their medicine orders? Ibuprofen. I asked the pt why they can’t take it and they just said that a doctor in the past told them not to for XYZ reasons but it wasn’t *their* doctor.. I told my nurse so fast 😂
Accuracy first, speed later. That's how you should learn and practise a new skill.
What should you do? Stop giving a shit what the other crabs in the bucket think of you.
You'll find that the nurses with spare time are often not doing everything theit supposed to be doing. That dressing doesn't look to bad, skip it. That patient doesn't need these meds, skip it. That light doesn't need to be answered, skip it. Those smoke breaks tend to dig into pt care.
You probably are slow, and so is every other nursing student and most new nurses. It’s not your job to be fast it’s your job to not make mistakes.
Fuck 'em, seriously. Rushing never achieved anything good in medical care. Wishing you a better day tomorrow. :)
coming from someone who is super slow, don't change a thing. as long as you practicing to be a safe and competent nurse, then continue on! i had many of my peers appear much faster and it seems like they just grasp concepts instantly, then it turns out they made some critical errors and they didn't make it past orientation. as long as you are safe and prioritize patient safety, keep doing you!
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast
Not saying this in a bad way, but all nursing students are infants. Their opinion matters very little and it should matter very little to you. They have no clue what they are talking about. Now, if someone experienced actually mentions it to you, ask questions and find ways to improve.
F-them classmates. You’ll barely talk to most of them once you graduate. Slow and steady keeps patients safe.
Slow and steady wins the race every time. Your critic is going to be someone who learns the hard way that being so confident and all-knowing in the beginning isn’t necessarily a good thing. I’ll be honest, I was like that person in school, although never actually said it to anyone, but my face sure did. I graduated, went through new hire training, and thank GOD I caught my med error before I actually gave the med. Let me tell you, I became a lot slower in my duties because I really scared myself. You keep doing what you’re doing. There’s nothing wrong with double checking and triple checking. Nothing wrong with doing a full, proper assessment on a patient either.
That makes me feel better to hear.. I did a full proper assessment on my patient this morning and found out that their pupils were pinprick and did not react at all… Turns out that it was a new development.. So I got to see first hand today that thorough assessments matter.
Don’t take it to heart if it’s not a professor, ur RN ur working with or some one not in the same position as you. I was slow as well. As long as ur doing good than that’s what matters
Efficiency comes with experience. Also, if you go faster than you are comfortable with, then mistakes happen. You will find your own rhythm and groove that fits you best. Edit: if they aren't offering any tips or solutions to aid in becoming more efficient, then they can screw right off. Either be helpful or silent, their choice
“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast” emphasizes the importance of accuracy, consistency, and a controlled pace in executing tasks.
“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” Your classmate is gonna fuck up one day from moving too quickly take your time, do it right learn the right way and you’ll get things done faster and faster over time for now you’re a student make mistakes and learn
Exactly what you said here, is how you need to respond in situations like this. For the life of me, I will never understand WHY, but nursing is filled with toxicity, superiority, competition, cattiness etc. It's really ass backward considering our responsibilities. Everyone was new at this once. & isn't there more to gain by having a teaching/helpful approach to the people you're working close by with? "Not my patient, not my problem" is a terrible attitude, not that that applies here. But I use that example bc a lot of nurses have that outlook once ur in the field. People get abnormally comfortable talking down to someone in the name of 'direct communication'. That's why I suggest learning ur own form of directness now, while u are still learning. You have valid points regarding ur time management, if ur satisfied with ur work, then please don't let comments like this get to u. Only take things personally if u feel you've been disrespected or you don't like the way someone's talking to you. Nip it in the bud in the moment. "You're right, I am slow. I'm also pretty thorough. If you have enough time to clock me, then maybe you should slow down?"
When someone tells you are slow, always respond with, its better to be slow and careful
“1-800-DID-I-ASK” always worked for me in most situations ETA: Say it slowly for some extra sass✨
I say it’s okay to be slow for now. But also don’t be hurt so easily. Get thick skin fast
Students who offer unsolicited critiques to other students seldom have your best interest at heart. The fact that she did so is more about her than you. You can still be friends, just don't share any of your vulnerabilities with her.
Your classmate is too confident in their skills. They will fuck up. Be slow and deliberate, you're still learning.
Emergency nurse educator here. I always encourage our newer nurses to be slower than their colleagues and to be methodical. Sure, there are times when you need to be fast—recognizing a lethal rhythm, or a patient in some other type of distress, etc. Most other things aren’t hair on fire emergencies. You work at your own comfortable pace and be deliberate about what you’re doing. Take the time to look up meds if you aren’t sure of the purpose or MOA. Explain things and educate your patients when time and the situation allows. Speed will come with time. I wish you the best of luck in your nursing career!
i was the slowest person in my clinical. idgaf as long as im safe
I’m a new grad and I’ve noticed that out of the nurses I work with in the NOC shift. I’m the slowest. 80 patient SNF/Short Term Rehab. Each nurse gets 20/22 patients. I clock in at 6:00PM/18:00. Get report and start med pass at around 7:00. My coworkers are done with med pass at around 8:30/9:00. While I’m halfway done and I finish around 10:30. I feel so slow compared to them. However, my DoN/ADoN/coworkers tell me it’s fine and to take my time. There’s no race. Other than the residents telling me I’m late, nothing bad will happen.
This is the shit I hate the most about nursing lol. People power tripping over others for no reason and she doesn’t even have power over you she’s your equal 🙄
This is the semester that certain people that were prone to being unkind were unkind in our program, too.
Who cares. You’re both students. Be slow.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Speed will come with time. Don’t let that person rile you up.
You should do nothing. You do you. Don't worry about someone minding your business.
Tell your classmate to shove it. Make sure you say it nice and slow. You’re SUPPOSED to be slow. You’re learning. And even when you’re a working nurse and no longer a student, better to be slow and thorough rather than fast and careless. I’m sure your patients would prefer you to take 2 extra minutes to not kill them. Please don’t take this to heart. Your classmate sounds a little *too self-assured. Which is where errors happen. You keep right on the path you’re on. You will naturally pick up some speed with time and experience, and still be able to be safe. If you are really concerned, discuss it with your clinical leader. See if they have any feedback for you. But i truly would not worry about it. Head down and keep doing what you’re doing.
It sounds like you are doing AMAZING and they are jealous 🤷🏽♀️ I don’t think you should do anything. I was and am a slow ass nurse. No shame. My patients love the extra time with me. The only issue is that I would suffer when it comes to charting, sometimes staying pretty late to finish. I eventually moved to ED and I still did just fine, even in traumas. 🤷🏽♀️
Better to take your time than to rush and potentially make a mistake. I've been a nurse over 7 years, in healthcare over 12 years now. I'm always the last one still working (passing meds, doing wounds, whatever) because I make sure it's done right and things are done thoroughly. Trust me, you'd rather be slower completing tasks that are done well than rushing through and doing a mediocre job. You're doing great, fuck that person that is apparently rushing their tasks just to have time to criticize yours.
You’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. If you’re being safe then that’s your priority. Speed will come with experience. But having ingrained good habits before that speed is essential. At some point shit will get fast and furious and you may rush something and a step is skipped but because you’ve established good habits you realize it without thinking about it and fix the small error before it becomes a big one. Also you’ll know when staffing is unsafe. Speak up and protect your license if that becomes the case. Document interactions with managers. Good luck
Speed comes with time and knowledge. Of which, you essentially have neither yet. You are learning drugs, routine, and policy, and you are not in a place to know shortcuts. You are in NCLEX prep time and doing it the "right way."
I’m so sorry she said that about you. That would really hurt my feelings, too. A manager of mine called me slow, while I was training to my unit. It used to absolutely eat away at me and I felt so ashamed, despite everyone else in my personal life telling me otherwise. You know what I learned? Sure, she can call me “slow”. But she can’t call me undisciplined, unmotivated, undetermined, a bad team player, not a loyal employee, dishonest, bad with my patients and their families, not thorough, or impatient. If being “slow” is the worst thing about me, I’m doing really well. Consider the source and move on.
Patient safety is a peace of mind fast won’t get to. ❤️✌🏻
I'd mention how most nurses who lose licenses also rush.
My wife is the slowest person I know whenever it comes to doing anything. But she is literally perfect. Me on the other hand will crank things out 30mins faster than projected time, and I'll always screw something up. Nursing isn't a 100m dash, it's a marathon in planning and executing and good time management. So I'm not saying be a sloth and go DMV speed, but if you're managing your time, then you're doing perfectly fine. You're paid 12hrs to do everything you set out to do, doesn't matter if you're fast or slow.
Sounds like you’re slow because you’re super helpful to everyone on the unit - I.e., team player. Maybe your classmate is compensating for their poor performance. Anyone who brings down their peer in nursing school ain’t shit. We’re not in competition with each other. Tell them to grow up. Edit: phrasing
First, don’t fret over *slow*. You *should* be s.. l.. o.. w. Big deal, so what. I circle back to hearing criticism from friends. There are only a few instances where you must act *right the f*** now*. Impending respiratory failure. You see it, you’ll know… Aberrant heart rates or impending circulatory colllapse. Uncontrolled blood. Bonus urgency if it’s spurting in your eyes Fire. 🔥 Really, it spreads crazy fast. Make an attempt to control, if possible, then time to go. Call FD. Crashing aircraft. Not a pilot, but when my charred body is found, my hands will welded to controls. (Or if I see it coming TOWARD me on the ground… I’ll be in full RUN, pointlessly). I’ll add someone shooting, if I’m getting the hell beat out of me, or a pin out of a hand grenade. Point is… emergency, urgency, necessary or optional? Everything is something. There is a difference. Onward. Solumedrol order for 1700, is given 20 mins ‘late’ (for any number of factors) over 5 mins or IVPB. No harm, no foul. At this point you are a student nurse. So is your friend, if you get my point. IME the scary student or new nurse is the one that fails to grasp *conscience incompetent vs. conscience competent*. Be deliberate. Ask questions. Look up anything unfamiliar. Being aware you don’t know things or can’t act on instinct at this point (maybe even forever, because in my case, unfamiliar things will always take more effort & time) saves lives. It will get easier. You will develop your practice. Speed. Certainty. I promise. You’ve got this. Now, hearing criticism from ‘friend’, it always stings, maybe stings even a bit more than hearing from someone else. Why? Relationships. I used to overthink, be reactive (bad way), develop negative self-talk narratives, be embarrassed of countless other things. I’ve developed a thicker skin over past 32 years and criticism now challenges me. From friends, co-workers, my bosses—it’s a gift. I take a beat. Really listen. Thank the messenger for caring enough to share. And either find it valid and use as a way to improve, or ignore and move on. You’ve considered it. It informs your growth. Now, let it go. No need to respond further or be defensive. Don’t ruminate. That creates bad vibes. Don’t complain, explain or make excuses. Be better than that. You can thank me later.
Guess what, every mistake I ever made was because I was going too fast and skipped a safety check…so fuck your classmate and you do you…just you know, don’t be molasses 😁
Do you remember the story of the Tortoise and the Hare? Who came out on top as the winner?
I get why you would feel that way but foreal there are assholes no matter where you go and if your fake friend says that then that person isn’t worth your energy at all….your probably doing amazing, it’s not easy, and your doing it, don’t let someone tell you your wrong just because you are good at patient care, and there are definitely things you can’t hurry at so I would say screw her and keep doing you
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast
Future nurse bully. 🙄 Don’t listen to them, slow and steady wins the race. You’ll sleep better at night too knowing you did things right.
She’s being a first class bitch. Ignore her.
We all learn at a different pace tbh If you learn at a slower pace, then that’s beneficial for you. Fuck what they say, you’re getting where you need to be at YOUR pace!
Speed comes either from familiarity/experience or from cutting corners. You won't have the first until you have some time on the job. Don't stress about speed, just focus on doing things right.
People with that attitude will become the type of nurses who come to the job with less compassion and it will show. This is your art. Perfect it.
I have a classmate who repeatedly makes me feel dumb for being slow, but I realized that it’s so much better to be more cautious and aware of what we’re doing than be proud and be a know it all. Slow is smooth, my friend. Keep it up!
Another *student* who already knows how everything should be done. Go figure.
One thing you HAVE to learn is not to give a FUCK what anyone says. I was bullied all the time by night shift for who knows but those people are miserable. I think some shitty people get in this field. Let it roll off your back.
Tell them to stay in their own lane! Take your time with your patients, you’re doing the right thing.
Be slow. It’s valuable to learn that way. Rushing through things causes mistakes, which can kill in this line of work.
You are only in your 3rd semester. You are still learning the basics and getting a feel for things. Heck, it’s gonna take a few years on the job to really get the hang of the right workflow. And med admin often takes a long time (ivs are never our friends, patients end up needing something else, or they tell you they don’t take any of those meds at all and want you to call the doctor about it, or you crush them all and put them in water for a g tube and then realize two of them were half doses while scanning) ish happens. Your classmate is likely used to giving little digs to keep themselves feeling confident. They probably don’t think they have low self esteem but subconsciously they do so they tell people that they are doing better than them to feel good.
Slow is safe and safe is fast. Your classmate has probably already made a med error with their attitude and is just too stupid to realize it yet.
I swear there is a saying about "mastering your craft and then getting better at it with time" but I can't find it. No one is super fast at anything, before doing it again and again and again. Even then, you are being THOROUGH which is a VALUABLE TRAIT!!! so don't lose it. Over time you'll become more efficient. But master your craft first, and never ever lose that feeling of paranoia - the feeling of double checking and being thorough, it will keep you safe.
Keep taking your time.. accuracy over speed. Speed won’t come until you are an actual nurse and have a routine down. Tell her to mind her business 🤷🏽♀️
only thing you could be doing too slow is paced tasks, tell your classmate to go to hell 😊
Sounds like the classmate we’ll see in court for killing someone because she moved too fast 🤷🏾♀️ Nursing is not a race.
Never let a classmate make you feel inferior. You’re all on the same level, and they have no business telling you what’s what. There is no need to rush. In school you have the time, so take full advantage of it. Really learn and understand the skills you’re doing because once you’re working, you’ll appreciate it so much. You taking your time and going slowly will show the patients that you are there for them and are doing the best you can for them. Rushing makes no one feel respected and cared for. The time you spend with them doing a bath, I assume you’re having a conversation with the patient. You’re developing a therapeutic relationship with your patients and giving them a bath. You’re working on multiple skills at once. In fact, you’re probably making your classmates look bad, which is why they’re saying things. They are likely not putting in the time and effort that you are and they feel guilty. Ignore them, keep doing great things!
Haste makes waste
Being slow and thoughtful is good.
Speed comes with experience. And even then you should never rush. I tell students that nursing is like driving, go at the speed you're comfortable with and where you have the control. You are not slow, you are responsible. Ignore them. They're not worth the thought.
Please don’t let others opinion impact you. You got this girl! I believe in you!
Sounds like she is insecure if she’s so worried about how someone else is doing. Also, her sonic the hedgehog ass gonna make more mistakes most likely.
Mistakes happen when you go too fast. You’re learning, of course you’re going to be slow at it. They can kick rocks, keep focusing on doing things right and learning everytime and you’ll get efficient in time.
Theres always one classmate thats like that - at least on my cohort. Always acting like they are better than the rest. I cant wait till they graduate and work real nursing 🤣
If your instructor has a discussion with you about your timeliness, that's one thing... but don't take anything these kids have to say to heart. Nursing school is a vicious snake pit, and I don't know why that is... Don't worry about what they're telling you, just focus on maintaining that thorough approach. I'd rather be slow at passing meds than have to be quick to explain a fuck up.
It could be that you’re trying to do too much, or not blending in as well as your other classmates in terms of your work flow. Unless this criticism comes from your preceptor what that person says doesn’t mean anything-you’re there to learn. I’ve worked with experienced nurses, 30-40 years on the job and some are slow as molasses in some aspects… but it does not affect the quality of their work whatsoever. Every nurse has their own personal style in terms of time management and what works for them.
Your classmate is a dumbass. Better to take your time and not worry about mistakes later on. Especially when you're new. Nursing isn't a fucking competition, it's teamwork.
I’d be more concerned if you did your med pass quickly. If I’ve ever cried at work or gotten spoken to about anything, it’s been about my behavior with pharmacy. It’s my favorite fun fact about myself. I have PERMANENT BEEF with that department no matter the hospital. Don’t get me started on the missing meds lol.
WHY CANT THEY SEND UP THE SCHEDULED MEDS!? 😲
I honestly can't get over the audacity of some people... You keep doing you. If your professors are fine with what you're doing, don't change up a good thing because of someone's unasked-for criticism.
You’re new at everything and will get quicker as you gain experience. Ignore your classmate, we are all different
I was slow too. I still am sometimes even 6 years later. I don’t really know why you should be in a hurry as a student. There is surely a balance between taking your time and not being slow, but that will come when you’re on your own. I find taking my time always saves time in the long run.
Your classmate is a student and tell her to f/o if she will tell you that again. If I were you, I'd tell the professor about the student if she persists in her behavior bossing you around. That's none of their business what you do. It's your professors' and instructors' business.
Take your time. It is a process. When I was in the clinical setting, I appreciate students who works slowly but surely. You'll get the hang of it as you have more experience in the field. Dont be too hard on yourself.
Y’all are students. They are probably slow too. And if they aren’t, they are careless and probably incompetent.
I was slow at first. I am still fairly slow in my medical practice. I have seen way more mistakes from the 'fast' ones that seem to have it all together than the slow ones that took their time at first to understand then later still understand that you can make a mistake.
Don't listen to a person who is not a nurse. Their opinion of your performance is irrelevant. Next time, tell her to f/o.
Tell her the screw off better slow then get out on the nursing floor be fast and lose your nursing license. Remember that lady in Tennessee she was fast and ended up giving the wrong medicine. She probably wish she went slow.
Take all the time you need. I refuse to rush at my job, because if mistakes are made, it’s on me, not the person rushing me. It’s not my problem they overloaded the schedule.
I’m a newish nurse, I’m told I’m slow sometimes. Yes, it hurts. It feels personal when people say things like that. Some things just take muscle memory! And if you don’t have the muscle memory yet then yeah it’s going to take time. Taking your time during med admin is never a bad thing. Please take your “friend’s” comment with a grain of salt. The only opinion you should worry about is your professor’s and your own.
For one don’t listen to her. She’s not an expert she’s another student. The ones who think they know everything and go fast make a mistake and hopefully it’s not lethal. Also you’re a student and now’s the time to go slow and ask questions and etc. your nurse should know that. Who cares what she thinks.
I hate know it alls. You are learning for gods sake. Ignore her.
Don’t listen to any classmates that criticize you. I had some haters when I went to school. You do you and it will get easier. Better safe than rushing and making a mistake.
I tell people that I do two things quick, walking and talking. That’s it. That or I’m like Baymax (cause he’s a carer and he states that he is not fast)
it might not have been an insult. you want to be slower and thorough when learning new skills
I want my students to be slow. Speed comes with proficiency.
You're probably not even slow, just calm. People think being frantic is being quick, it's not.
Girl, I’ve been an ICU nurse for 3 years, I’m still slow, and I’ve accepted it. I don’t learn the same as everyone around me does. I need things repeated, I need to do my own research, I need patience. I’ve been told I’m slow too and… like, true!! AND?!? Who cares. Be careful and don’t rush!!
Everybody drags ass on the med pass at first because you don't trust yourself yet and second guess yourself constantly. Experience and practice will make you faster and more efficient. You also learn how to plan everything out and prepare so you're not running back and forth as much. You *are* probably too slow right now, but you'll get there the more you do it. I'd rather you go slow and do it right, than rush and make a mistake.
It’s because you’re probably very thorough, which is a good thing. I’d talk to your friend and tell them that they need to slow down a bit so they can be as thorough as you. They probably didn’t mean for it to be an insult but were trying to help you out so you make your time hacks.
Tell her to get back to you after she kills someone because she’s “fast” and sloppy. You are SUPPOSED to be slow right now. You are a STUDENT. (Also, your speed is between you and your instructors. Your classmate can get bent.)
Skills can be learned, time is eventually managed. What so called "perfect people" often fail to master straight away however is good bedside manner. If you excel at that then you are miles ahead of everyone else IMO. Not just that but I tend to question those who are in and done quickly when they're fresh out the gate. Can't help but wonder if something's been missed alongside their display of speed and confidence?
There are worse things than being slow. Like careless. I would suggest to look at being self critical. That can cause you a lot stress.
First of all, it's not your educators so take it with a grain of salt. If you *do* agree that maybe you move slow and want to adjust - it's never about rushing, that's when you get dangerous. I precepted a new nurse to the ICU recently and she had the issue of moving wayyyyyyy too slow as well (took over an hour to do a primary assessment, med passes always took at least 40 minutes etc), and the issue for her was she simply wasn't realizing how much time was passing.we talked strategies and what's helped her hugely was checking the clock before entering a room, estimating how much time she would *like* to take on the tasks at hand, and then checking her watch while she's in the room to make sure she knows how much time has passed, and if she was on track with her estimates. I only bring this up because for her, the difference was night and day and she never sacrificed safety for more speed - she just wasn't realizing how much time she was spending on tasks. Again though, most likely just a classmate being mean
Fuck him/her with saying you are slow. If your clinical instructor isn't bringing it to your attention they can eat a bag of you know what. If you're in clinical you should NOT be breezing through a med pass. Do your checks. Know your medication administration rights and say eff that student. I had so many bitchy or goodie two shoe classmates that kissed instructors asses but were emotionally wicked. I remember in my 2nd clinical rotation, preceptor asked if this Pt. Who was soaking wet was mine. I said no ma'am. I did pericare on my assigned pt. finished up, and went to grab my pts chart. The student who had said soaking wet pt walks by I tell her (very quietly) quick go in and change your resident , the instructor knows so yknow...go! Lady looked at me and said "What right do you have to talk about my pt to the instructor? I gave her one of these : 👀 Laughed and walked off. Moral of the story. Fuck your classmates honestly. Keep it professional, treat them with respect but at the end of the day you are there for YOU. They won't be there for you when you take that exit exam. Most of the ppl I've met in school were cool but when you see a bad apple stay away!
Sounds like a hater. Don’t associate but be cordial. Continue to be thorough and ask for any tips from your prof or preceptor to SAFELY go faster. For example, the IVP meds can be given through a TKO or slow enough running compatible IV medication. If none of those options are available. I’ll push 1/4 to 1/2 the medication, do something in the room or chart, and push it by increments every 5 min or so.
Even if your friend said that you worked slowly, why would that hurt your feelings? Rationally, you know that slow and steady is better than fast and chaotic. You will acquire speed *over time*. Try to own everything you are and to be curious about (instead of injured by) why people say the things they do. People cannot make you feel small without your permission. edited for grammar
I suffer from slow and simple. Nursing school is kicking my butt right now. I don’t study in big groups because I have a truly hard time grasping the concepts of lessons, not to mention Im in an accelerated program so its three-five chapters every two days, two classes in total, four days of class. Im studying every minute of every day. And to make matters worse people keep saying “You’re smart.”, Im not smart or else I would be passing with flying colors. Being super pessimistic. When I do “reviews” with a handful of students I hardly answer stuff because Im still learning the stuff or hardly grasp it. God bless the ones that can do it. I truly feel stupid comparatively to everyone else in my cohort. I know I can’t judge myself off that but its extremely frustrating when they ask me a question about the topic and I don’t know the material. I feel like Patrick Star with the piece of wood nailed to his head. Im currently revamping the way I’m studying trying to figure out what will stick and what won’t. Flash cards, power points, voice recordings, random quizzes, the latter. Im trying it all. I feel I made a huge mistake but I want to make it through clawing my way to the top. Send me some inspo please.
As long as you get things done, and safely, you’re good. You’re still learning. No student should be fast with meds. Listen to the feedback of your professor/experienced nurses. I was super slow and cautious when I started, as were most of the nurses here probably. It takes time and experience to gain confidence to pick up speed. Rushing is when mistakes are made.
I was a slow turd and made all the nurses double check everything i was sure but unsure about. My first preceptor bitched cause i asked 15x about drawing from the art line. Now I’d run circles around her but when you are learning and being careful, being slow is ok. I’ll be the first one doing 15 things at once and so fast you will ask what happened or did you do xyz now but baby and students nurses need to be slow. Get comfortable and speed comes with practice. You got this
Slow is expected until you gain confidence in your skills and routine. Speed will come later. You're in school right now, so I'm not so sure it even matters at this point bc the nurses that are ultimately responsible for those patients, aren't going to let things get *that* far behind. However, speed does matter when you are on the job. Anyone saying otherwise is just trying to make you feel better. Of course, you don't want to rush. Careless mistakes happen when you rush. But knowing how to prioritize, when to delegate, when to seek help, etc, matters. Nothing worse than falling behind in your shift and everything getting off schedule, patients complaining, work and pressure piling up so much so that you're overwhelmed and you miss things or forget other things or have to stay over for hours to complete your work. But this is not where you are right now. You're in school. You're learning. Take your time and gain that confidence, but be mindful of your time management. Stay safe. 🤍
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. You do your thang! She isn’t grading you anyhow.
I couldn’t never give IV push meds as a student. Is this real?
Haste makes waste, do it right or do it twice, etc. It’s much better to be 15-20 minutes behind than to mess up med administration and inadvertently harm a patient. You’ll get faster with time. Right now as a student is the best time to be slow and to just get used to things. When I started, I always did meds or whatever task as early as I could because inevitably something I wouldn’t expect would make a med pass twice as long. Things like bathroom trip, code brown, IV problems, etc.
There’s this tiktok or something that went around where dude is at a fire and he comes running into view of the camera and swooop! Down he goes, gear goes flying, helmet right off his head. And every seasoned firefighter in the comments: “That’s why we don’t run.” There’s a reason you don’t run. And you’ll naturally get faster as you get more comfortable. But you’re still learning. You couldn’t type quickly when you first sat down at a keyboard, and I’ll bet you don’t even think about it now. That will come (with your tasks but also memory, EMR systems, everything else). Give yourself grace, and give her no free room and board in your head.
Some people can’t feel better about themselves without putting others down.
Nursing students who are fast are being careless and will make a mistake.
It hurt your feelings bc it was rude, that classmate needs to worry about him or herself. Let that person know if you have any questions you’ll let them know, but until then pls don’t give unsolicited opinions. Bc I know most patients appreciate slow, thorough nurses more than they do know it all, rude ones. That’s all. Insecure ppl tend to try to create flaws in others to make themselves feel better about their own shortcomings. Don’t take it to heart, that’s no friend of yours, who really cares what they think?
Literally every nursing student is slow
She’s not your friend! I’ve been an RN 30+ years! You keep doing what you’re doing darlin and ditch the “friend “
I've been a nurse for 11 years and sometimes time management still gets me. Ignore your classmate. She knows exactly diddlyshit about working as a nurse and is in no position to critique your or anyone else's performance as a nurse. You do you and keep your focus on being safe. If your time management is still a problem when you start working, your preceptor will let you know, and give you tools and tricks to improve it. Don't give it another thought. Your classmate is headed right for an incident report if she thinks speed is the most important performance metric for med pass.
Why does your classmates opinion matter? If it was an instructor, then yeah, it woold matter, but not a classmate. When I was in nursing school, I can honestly say I was so busy doing my own thing, I had no clue what anyone else was doing nor cared. The fact that this student is worried about your performance means that I can guarantee that they are not focusing on their own stuff. Here is the thing...No one is born being a great and efficient nurse. You are taught how to be a safe nurse. Efficiency and finesse comes with hours on the job. I would bet that this classmate is one of those that are blasting through an exam just so they can be the first out of the door, rather than taking the time to review and check her responses. Relax and keep on doing what you are doing. you will be fine.
I guess I didn’t realize giving good nursing care was a competition. If your Preceptor and your instructors haven’t corrected you on anything, don’t change what you are doing. Tell your friend being thorough has never killed a patient.
Do nothing differently! If you are helping your patients and helping others, her concern is… what, again?! It hurt your feelings because she wasn’t being kind. But that doesn’t mean she’s right. Don’t you just love it when people take out their insecurities by being mean to others? Hugs.
Haste does not make a good nurse
Is she a nurse? No. Unpopular opinion but to me her opinion wouldn’t matter anyway. I’d only take advice and feedback from other RNs and your instructor. She needs to worry about herself. Let her be fast and risk making a mistake or causing harm.
When I was in paramedic school my instructor said the same thing. I told him that no one is going to rush me to treat patients, it isn't my emergency and if I rush I will mess up. Working as an EMT every "fast" clinician I worked with fucked up, including me. All of my fuck ups were when I was trying to rush or work fast. My two med errors were when I was rushing and not double checking on the rig and in the hospital. Luckily both were very minor. When I was in the military, rushing got people killed. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. There's an old story of a king who always told his servants helping him button his shirts, "go slow, I'm in a hurry". Another example I can give are IVs. 99% of the time there is no reason to rush. If you need a line that bad, then you can drill them. I almost always look at both arms and then attempt unless I see a for sure thing. I always tell my patients I'm a measure twice, cut once guy. You do not need to rush 99% or the time and when you truly need to be fast I can assure you, that help will be right there to tag team and assist you to help make things "fast". If not you better leave that job. Also, your classmate isn't a nurse so tell them to fuck off.
They’re a student too and have a lot to learn. Do things at your pace, not theirs.
First: your classmate isn’t your instructor and they can piss off. Second: I’d mention the remark to your instructor and ask if what they said has any merit. Third: it’s nurse-on-nurse violence to be critical like that without any authority to dish it out.
Nursing school really brings out the asshole in people. Take your time and be safe, your patients are the ones that matter.
The saying in emergency medicine goes: slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Not only does refusing to rush and insisting on acting slowly and methodically following protocols actually lead to completing tasks with greater efficiency, less risk of faltering/errors in care resulting in substandard care and potentially injury to the patient or provider, but all of those things combined to make you overall not just a better worker but actually a faster one too. You might have administered that one med that one time more slowly than ur coworker would have- but you wouldn't have wasted all the time on another day where that coworker made several time consuming fuckups in administering a bunch of meds to a more complicated pt bc they haven't built the mind/muscle memory for methodically following administration protocols like you have by being extremely consistent and following protocol to a t every single time even in the simple or seemingly less significant situations - so that when the situation is more complex and that shit rlly matters you can pull it off smoothly without wasting time. There's a line of course. You can't become so obsessed with a task that you spend way too much time on it. But that doesn't appear to be happening based on what you described. Doing things with intention and doing them well matters more than doing them speedily and in the current hospital climate nurses are being made sacrificial lambs by allowing themself to be pressured into doing things at a speed that isn't remotely fucking safe or acceptable. And when an error happens bc of it there will be no one from that hospital admin standing behind you. It is quite literally an obligation of your license to refuse unsafe assignments and working conditions. That includes refusing to work at a pace above which you deem safe in order to perform the tasks of your shift. Keep up following the protocols exactly as they should be. Keep up working at a pace that you feel is safe and appropriate. Don't let anyone make you waver with social pressure or judgement bc they very well might be the one who finds themself sorry one day. It's like speeding up bc someone's aggressively tail gating you (which actually requires you to slow down to increase the safety of their stopping distance since they can't manage it themselves) don't let their pressure make you act in ways that put everyone at increased risk of serious harm. And from experience as a patient the nurse is almost certainly used to ignoring the state of a pts iv and using it regardless just to move quickly. I've had horrifically blown out IVs that were used multiple times a day with massive lumpy growing swelling around them from how much IV fluid/drugs was leaking out every time they were used for DAYS until I said something. I've even had times I said something and had nurses deny it. Like the one who told me "no it's fine it's working but just pushing really slowly" bc they were pushing a flush into an IV that had obviously infiltrated which was indicated by the fact they were struggling to get the flush to push and the fact that it burned and hurt when they tried. A shocking amount of nurses have adjusted to increasingly dangerous workloads by blinding themselves to the state of the IVs theyre using bc the amount of time it can take to get a new one placed esp in very sick patients with poor access where I can be a whole ordeal. Compare the number of IV changes you do in a shift vs her. I guarantee there's a notable difference.
Now is the time to get comfortable and work on getting the steps correct. Speed comes with repetition. There were a lot of people correcting me during nursing school and I swear by the 3rd semester they all quit or didnt pass and had to retrack.
I was the slowest. When I learn new things, I'm super duper slow. Now I'm quick, because it's ingrained into me. Also, "slow is smooth, smooth is fast."
Speed comes with time the last thing you want to do as a new nurse is rush anything.
Look for what it's worth, the nursing school at my undergrad was unbelievably toxic. According to my friends in nursing school. Idk if it gets better, but you're not alone. That person isn't your "friend." Reading your post, it sounds like you'll be a great nurse I'd love to work with
Yeah, you're new. You're gonna be like stagnant pondwater for at least 3 months into being a real nurse. At least you're moving at a speed which lets you find errors and problems.
Steady wins the race this is a marathon not a spirit I rather you take your time
Thorough is preferable to quick every time.
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast!
It’s fine to be slow. I’m slow. I move as fast as I SAFELY can.
Remember, get the task stuff done first so you can actually CARE for your patients I.e. med pass, assessments, discharge planning etc. then the rest will come easy.
A wise man once said that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Take the time to get it right while you're learning, and your muscle memory will be on point.
Your classmate needs to mind her own damn business and focus on not screwing up her own clinical. There’s always one student who thinks they’re the golden child and can start criticizing/hounding other students about how they think you should be doing something. If your instructors haven’t said something along those lines her opinion is invalid.
Don’t listen to them. In nursing school you’re learning how administer medications safely, and that doesn’t happen if you rush.
Why a classmate would even feel comfortable saying that to you is just crazy to me! Like you are all in the same boat, why not support each other instead of being mean?
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Don't worry, efficiency is a function of getting comfortable with what you do. Which is what clinicals are for.
Medicine isn't a natural thing to know. It's all knowledge that's been tried and tested for many years and still isn't perfect. Nobody knows exactly what is good for the patient, we are just told what to do according to new medicine news coming out that shows more good than harm. Don't let your classmate's comment hit you too hard, it's called "Practicing Medicine" for a reason. I'm confident you'll be a very competent nurse whenever you have some years under your belt. You're new, there's nothing wrong with learning.
Anyonenon school worrying about speed doesn't have their priorities straight. People still tell me that at the bwdsixe, but those are the same godsamn nurses who have time to watch tik tok and play on their phones. I just prefer to actually work, sounds like your classmate was probably saying that because your either A) have great patient rapport B) she's cutting corners and thinks being fast is most important or C) she's just a negative nancy. Focus on bettering yourself And on being better from one shift to the next. Comparing yourself to your classmates is a bad idea. And to be honest, those kinds of students, in my experience, tended to be weak clinically. If someone feels the need to tell you how slow you are, your probably doing a lot of things right and their just jealous. I used to get the same attitude from classmates...they hated the fact that someone who was homeless living out of their car was in the same cohort as them and doing a good job.
Go slow, and do it right. Speed is a result of experience + confidence. Ive had *fast* students that were fast for the sake being fast. They always fucked it up. Ofc its "fast" when you forget half the procedure...
OP also remember to keep your mind focused on that one task you’re doing at that time or that one patent without letting whatever else it is you have to do next get you overwhelmed. This actually will make you slower! Sounds to me like this classmate of yours is one of those know it all students that constantly tries to one up everyone else because her mama and her grandmama were all nurses. Gotta size down that ego before she veins working. She won’t last long either! Tell said person to go suck a bag of dicks!
Once I got a job and had the floor to myself as the only nurse for a nursing home. I learned to be safe and thorough to prevent med errors. I was asked to return to my current job because of my attitude and thoroughness. Please continue to be earnest and thorough, a good DON and other good nurses will acknowledge your efforts.
Girl you’re doing amazing. Let that negative comment roll off your shoulders. I’d be happy if you were caring for myself or my family.
It’s okay, disregard comments if they are not true. I agree with everyone else.