This essay discusses the importance of time management in nursing and provides strategies to overcome challenges. It explores the barriers to effective time management and offers tips for prioritizing tasks and improving efficiency. The content is relevant to nursing students and professionals.
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Running head:TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING Name of the Student Name of the university Author’s note
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1TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING Time management in nursing Introduction Reflective practice in nursing is an essential curriculum in nursing. Reflective practice is an essential factor for the development of a crucial, autonomous and advanced practitioners. Reflecting on the daily experiences helps the nurses to enhance nursing care and have a better understanding of the actions and the practices. Through reflective practice I would focus on the issue of time management, that most of the graduate nurses’ face while in practice.This essay woulddiscussaboutthepossiblestrategiestoovercomethechallengesrelatedtotime management.I did my placement in the aged care and the rehabilitation at the Fairfield hospital, NSW, where I had faced subsequent difficulties regarding time management issues. The paper would also provide examples from personal practices supported by authentic literary sources. Personal experience and strategies for effective time management The nurses have to work in an environment with his workload that necessitates efficient leadership and the management skills (Kaya et al. 2015). One of the skills is the time management behavior of the nurses. As per the experts, prevention of the wastage of time and having control over the time can lead to improvement of the managerial abilities, reduction of stresses , preservation of the human resources and ultimately leads to job satisfaction (Häfner, Oberst & Stock 2014). According to a study donebyEbrahimi et al. (2014)the graduate nurses on a neonatal unit, five main factors have been identified- Knowing, planning, fulfillment, adaptation and flexibility, which helps the nurses to manage their timemore efficiently. As a
2TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING graduate nurse I can relate to the several above factors and is aware that I need to work on these five themes in order to adopt the time management skills. “Knowing” is important for the nurses to manage time on this unit (Rush et al. 2015). It is necessary for the graduate nurses to assess the patient carefully, otherwise more time would be spent on the patients looking for the effective interventions (Liu et al. 2016). Knowing about the condition of the patient would make the graduate nurses less anxious. Secondly, proper planning is required, which involves chalking out the daily plans and delegation of the important tasks. Planning the activities of the basis of the priorities helps to manage time effectively. Again novice nurses should not hesitate to seek help from the peers. As per the NMBA standards of nursing nurses should reflect upon their activities and obtain feedback from their peers. Experienced seniors can help the graduate nurses to figure out the time wasters and effectively manage time(Chernomas & Shapiro 2013). Adaptation and flexibility in nursing is extremely important to inculcate the time management skills. Nurses often have to encounter unpredictable and adverse events like shortage of the resources or time. In that case nurses should not waste time and should work promptly to figure out the alternative ways of care without feeling less stressed while managing time on the unit (Chernomas& Shapiro 2013). Barriers to effective time management While transitioning from student nurse to a staff nurse, the graduate nurses faces challenges and require time to adapt themselves to a new environment. This transition period calls for experimentation and exploration of the challenges encountered by the freshly graduate nurses (Rush et al. 2015). While encountering with the new challenges, the nurses often face
3TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING difficulties to complete all the responsibilities within stipulated time.Ebrahimi et al. (2014) has identified some of the barriers of effective time management in nursing. These are lack of clear goals and direction, time stealers, the inability to say no, taking on too much time, distractions, procrastination, negative attitude, poor health, poor infrastructure, lack of proper documentation techniques, open door policy, shortage of staffing and social media (Cherry& Jacob 2016). I have often noticed, in order to manage time, I often miss out some of the essential nursing actions, such as missing one of the steps of the five moments of hand and hygiene while disinfecting the patient or forgetting to take a verbal consent before touching the patient. As stated by the nursing participants in a study conducted byCherry& Jacob(2016), shortageofstaffingisoneofthereasonforexcessiveworkloadandineffectivetime management. Literary sources have proven that unorganized education, intensive educational programs overlaps with the working shifts of the nurses. In a study by general time management skills, it has been observed that the time management skills among the nurses have increased after an educational program. Strategies for effective time management According toSaid (2014) time management is all about the critical thinking and the way the tasks are prioritized. Poor time management can be difficult especially for the nurse leaders trying to handle the busy schedules including the staffing problems, meetings and other health care issues occurring throughout the workday (Freeling& Parker 2015). Poor time management results in inefficient work workflow, leading ton wastage of time and decreased satisfaction at work. While working as a nursing student, I have understood the prioritizing is an effective for managing time. We have often have to divide our tasks and finish them from the highest priority to the lowest one. For example, while starting of a shift, it is the duty of the nurse to understand
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4TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING the urgency of the patient. After an assessment has been done, the patients can be notified that they will be attended shortly, while the nurses can take care of the urgent patients. In my practice I have often faced the “squeaky wheel” situation, where the patient who gathered the attention of the nurses might not be the one with urgent need. Hence, the nurses should understand these priority setting traps. Nurses have to work in multidisciplinary sectors, starting from advanced care unit to neonatal unit where nurses have to be responsible for giving the lifesaving medicines as well as taking care of the hygiene and the nutrition of the patient, hence it is necessary to prioritize the tasks that has to be accomplished first (Said 2014). The effective building blocks for an effective time management are- The identification of the goals Reviewing the utilization of the time Matching the utilization of the time patterns with the goals Prioritizing the tasks Tasks that should be prioritized are- Important and the urgent tasks, Important but not the urgent tasks, Not important and not urgent tasks (Häfner, Oberst & Stock. 2014). It is necessary to maintain a planner handy for scheduling the activities. The daily task should be divided in to blocks of time starting from an interval of 15 minutes. The time should be blocked on the calendar for the recurring events including the preparation for the fields travel time, with require documentation, team meetings, meals and coordinated telephone calls, meals and workday review (Theisen & Sandau 2013).For example during my placements, I used a planner for arranging by daily tasks on the basis of their urgency.It is necessary to be realistic while planning the calendar. A system for the checking off the activities as we
5TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING complete them and carrying over the incomplete activities to a later date is required (Cherry & Jacob 2016).Windsor, Douglas and Harvey (2012)have stated that a time audit can be useful in improving the time management skills. It does not reveal the 2 hours chunks of the wasted time but it definitely helps us to identify any small increments that can be managed in a better way. As the tracking period is complete, the log for the opportunities shall be reviewed for the opportunities to make any improvements. This will also help in the identification of the interruptions or the inefficient tasks, the personal use of the social media and more. While working on a big project, taking breaks for checking the messages for the social media can be tempting but summation of the small gaps might lead to chunks of mismanaged time and might distract a person from the completion of the projects (Freeling & Parker 2015).During my placements, I have invested enough timing in internet surfing as I had to conduct an evidence based search. These distractors can be confronted by setting limits for using the social networking for personal use. Busy work might creep in the weekend and might hamper the personal life. Many of the nurse leaders have to use the weekend for catching up to the work.And hence I believe that proper time management would help me to save some time for myself. Procrastination is a great thief of time. It gives signals to the internal conflicts and the indecision and the generally results in avoidance of the difficult tasks (Häfner, Oberst & Stock 2014). It is necessary that we identify out high energy periods during the workinghoursand schedule the most difficult visits during these periods. Nurses should define their own deadlines for developing a time frame in which to plan and fit the tasks in to our own schedule. As stated byVan Eerde (2015) perfectionism in clinical skills can be paralyzing and is usually a common trait among the novice nurses. Reasonable standards of practice should be adopted by avoiding perfectionism.While in my
6TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING professional practice, I have realized that we need not need to be perfect but are entitled to do the needful that is important for the patient. While in my placement, I have come across certain online resources that have equipped me with strategies for effective time management and to maintain evidence based practice of care.It is also necessary for the nurses to strive forexcellencebyeffectivelymanagingtimeusingtheresourcesprovidedbythe organization. I believe that I will be able to achieve this by following the clinical competency standard of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s (NMBA) standards of practice. Being aware of the timings required in each medical procedure such as the timing between injection applications, managing time for both administrative and medical tasks would certainly help me in my future professional practice. However, I intend to expand my knowledge skills for ensuring a safe care for the patients and in doing so, I would also fulfill the duty of a registered nurse. Conclusion With regards to my personal experience and evidence based researches, it can be concluded that time management is an essential skill that needs to be developed by the nurses. The barriers to time management has found to be shortage of staffs, lack of proper training, excess work load, stress, unorganized educational planning and unnecessary use of internet surfing. Knowing, realistic planning, setting the priorities, proper documentation, identifying the time wasters, refrainment from the use of social networking without any valid reason has been identified to be the probable strategies for managing time effectively in a clinical setting.
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7TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING References Chernomas, W.M. & Shapiro, C., 2013. Stress, depression, and anxiety among undergraduate nursing students.International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, vol.10, vol. 1, pp.255-266. Cherry, B. & Jacob, S.R., 2016.Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management. Elsevier Health Sciences. Ebrahimi, H., Hosseinzadeh, R., Tefreshi, M. Z., &Hosseinzadeh, S. 2014. Time management behaviors of head nurses and staff nurses employed in Tehran Social Security Hospitals, Iran in 2011.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, vol19no. 2, pp.193-8. Freeling, M. & Parker, S., 2015. Exploring experienced nurses' attitudes, views and expectations of new graduate nurses: A critical review.Nurse education today, vol.35, no. 2, pp.e42-e49. Häfner, A., Oberst, V. & Stock, A., 2014. Avoiding procrastination through time management: An experimental intervention study.Educational Studies, vol.40. No. 3, pp.352-360. Kaya, H., Kaya, N., Palloş, A.Ö. &Küçük, L., 2012. Assessing time-management skills in terms of age, gender, and anxiety levels: A study on nursing and midwifery students in Turkey.Nurse Education in Practice, vol.12. No. 5, pp.284-288. Liu, J.Y., Liu, Y.H. a& Yang, J.P., 2014. Impact of learning adaptability and time management disposition on study engagement among chinese baccalaureate nursing students.Journal of Professional Nursing, vol.30,no. 6, pp.502-510.
8TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE-NURSING Rush, K.L., Adamack, M., Gordon, J., Lilly, M.&Janke, R., 2013. Best practices of formal new graduate nurse transition programs: an integrative review.International journal of nursing studies, vol.50, no. 3, pp.345-356. Said, N.B., 2014. Time management in nursing work.International Journal of Caring Sciences, vol.7, no. 3, pp.746-749. Theisen, J.L. &Sandau, K.E., 2013. Competency of new graduate nurses: A review of their weaknesses and strategies for success.The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, vol.44, no. 9, pp.406-414. Van Eerde, W., 2015. Time management and procrastination.The psychology of planning in organizations: Research and applications, pp.312-333. Windsor, C., Douglas, C. & Harvey, T., 2012. Nursing and competencies—a natural fit: the politics of skill/competency formation in nursing.Nursing Inquiry, vol.19, no. 3, pp.213-222.