I was too tired to post this last night, but I was at work yesterday, and I had 4 oncology patients all requiring something at the same time. I remember thinking, “Lord machines alarms are all beeping at the same time,” and I felt a little like my head was spinning for a minute trying to figure out what to do next. Then, I literally stopped dead in my tracks. I could hear my professor, Mrs. Robinson, from nursing school, teaching us about the difference between nursing exam questions and regular college questions. She was teaching us on delegation and prioritizing and how nursing requires critical thinking. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know you’re probably saying well that shouldn’t have required critical thinking. However, it stopped me in my tracks to think a second on who took priority and in what order I was going to meet each of my patient’s needs.
At first, I said well, the lady has been waiting, and I need to disconnect her, but there’s chemo I need to hang. Between the two, I decided that the lady was already done, so there wasn’t an immediate need, she could wait. So, I went to hang the chemo on the other patient because that took precedent. To get patients out promptly, we have to make sure the flow of the administration of medication is maintained. It may seem simple-minded to some, but nurses make split decisions every day. Sometimes it makes patients upset because they have to wait, and they don’t often understand you’re only one person. I reminded myself to do one thing at a time, and if need be and another one of my colleagues was available, then ask for help. And of course, the team I work with are always willing to help out, so I was just fine. I just wanted to share that moment in time with you guys. It’s okay to stop and assess your situation and determine what order things need to go in. And, if all else fails, dog on it, ask for help:} LOL
Until Next Time,
ShesThatRN
ShesThatRNspiration 