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What does the day in the life of a Registered Nurse look like?
I'm curious about what schedules typically look like in terms of a typical day- how many hours do you work, how many hours of overtime is expected, and how much time do you have outside of work. I am also curious about general day to day responsibilities- does the environment change often or is it the same routine everyday? Any other information or insights would be appreciated, thank you.
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Gena’s Answer
The day in the life of the typical registered nurse is SO varied. Nursing has fliexibility in the days, times and types of work that is available more than most other fields. I have worked in ICU, telemetry, cath lab, and endoscopy as a staff RN, but always with adults and at hospital based units. I have also been a nurse manager and educator. My schedules have varied a lot. As a staff nurse in a nursing unit (not procedural) you start your day with report on a team of patients, 12 hour days are pretty standard in US nursing. I usually worked days, so my answer is based on that. This number varies depending on acuity and location, but typically 4-5 telemetry patients or 2 ICU patients. Report takes about 15-20 minutes; the offgoing nurse should do this with you at the bedside and it should include peritinent things like pending procedures, abnormal labs and vital signs, physical assessment findings and usually finish up with any psychosocial issues and review of new orders. In ICU this would also include reviewing lines, drips, vent settings, and any life-supportive devices to ensure they are functioning properly and set as ordered. After report, most nurses will apply critical thinking to set their own schedule, but typically you will go see your patients, with the most acute first and pass any early medications like prandial insulins or change any drips that low in ICU. If you can chart as you go, your life will be easier. By the time you finish this, you will start your med pass, which can be lengthy especially on med surg or telemetry when you have polypharmacy and more patients. After this is completed, or during it, you will chart complete shift assessments according to your hospitals' documentation guidelines and software. If you use EPIC or Cerner, you will get faster at this as you do it more frequently (there are little tricks to navigating faster to what you need to use). By this time, it will be nearing lunch prandial insulins, so you'll cover those. In the early afternoon, I personally liked to do things like dressing changes, baths or showers for patient that require assistance (this varies again based on your setting and support staff availability) . Dinner time means more insulin dosages (some days you feel like an insulin dispenser if you have a lot of patients with diabetes). After dinner, you will try wrapping things up for report for night shift. Interspered throughout this, you will have patients coming and going for tests, procedures and discharge. This will be one of the most variable aspects of your workflow; having a lot of discharges / admits makes you much busier and post- procedure patients require more time; ideally you will have support for this on your unit with a charge nurse that does not have patients of their own, but this is not always the case. That makes nursing stressful, the sometimes unpredicatable nature of the workflow and the fact that your attention is being divided, but you must be focused. It is a hard job, in the years that I have done it, some things have gotten harder (more charting requirements) and some things are easier (more support from ancillary departments and better equipment). It has always been a rewarding job, even during the height of the pandemic when work was very stressful and there was a lot of death, I felt like a helped my fellow man, which is a valuable aspect of the job. I will point out here that I called nursing a job several times; it is a job, not a "Calling". Apply yourself, do your best and ENJOY YOUR TIME OFF YOU EARNED IT!!!
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Martin’s Answer
This question has popped up a few times before, so it might be helpful to look over previous discussions for additional understanding. Your daily routine can shift quite a bit based on whether you're working in a hospital, nursing home, office, or providing home care. Your main mission is to take care of the individual in your care, and sometimes their family too, catering to all their needs. Your ultimate objective is to aid in their recovery. This could involve a variety of methods, such as nutrition guidance, therapy, pain control, medication regulation, and emotional support, to mention a few. Some days might feel like a loop, while others will be filled with new challenges and a bit of chaos. You'll learn to tackle each situation as it arises. It's crucial to manage your time well, as you'll likely have several patients to attend to, even in a critical care setting. Moreover, you'll need to allocate time to record all the care you've provided. Remember, if it's not written down, it didn't happen! Your shifts could be 8, 10, or 12 hours long, depending on your work environment.
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Rachel’s Answer
The hours worked depends on the area of nursing you go into. Within the hospital it is typically a 12-hour shift. This means you work 3 shifts per week as a full-time employee, making it 36 hours per week. Some facilities will take your preferences into account, and you can either work all 3 days in a row, then giving you 4 days off consecutively. If you work the night shift, 3 days in row can be very difficult, as getting good sleep between your shifts is very important. Most hospitals are set up where you are required to work every other weekend, and generally you are on a pattern so you can plan activities into the future knowing which weekend you will be off.
If you work in a clinic, at a school, in a long-term care facility, these tend to be 8 hours per day, which then means you have to work 5 days per week. Again, depending on the setting if weekends are required.
A day in the life of a labor & delivery nurse (because that is what I know): You receive report in 30 minutes on the 1 or 2 patients you are assigned. You meet your patients, complete your assessments and verify physician orders (about 1 hour). Focused assessments are completed every 30-60 minutes on each patient for the remainder of the shift. Ensure that you are ready for a vaginal delivery-the room is prepared. If a cesarean delivery may be a possibility for your patient, ensure that all personnel are aware and the operating room is prepared. Administer medications as ordered throughout the shift. Perform appropriate interventions as needed based on your assessments, and notify the physician/midwife of changes in status and labor progress. Assist the anesthesia provider with epidural administration if requested by the patient and monitor the patient closely for the first 1 hour (vital signs as frequent as every 2 minutes). When it is time for your patient to start pushing for the delivery of the baby, you hand-off your second patient to another nurse. You then coach the mother in her pushing efforts and notify the provider appropriately when it is time for them to come for the delivery. At the delivery, you immediately assess the newborn to determine if it is safe for the baby to remain skin-to-skin contact (on the mother's bare chest) or if the baby requires interventions. After the delivery of the placenta, you then begin every 15 minute assessments on the mother and the newborn for the next 1-2 hours. As long as both are doing well, you then transfer them to the maternity unit and give report to another nurse.
Whew!!! You made it. Unless of course you have to assist another mother..... In a busy L&D unit each nurse can assist with 2-3 births within a 12 hour period.
I hope that was helpful!!!!!!!!
If you work in a clinic, at a school, in a long-term care facility, these tend to be 8 hours per day, which then means you have to work 5 days per week. Again, depending on the setting if weekends are required.
A day in the life of a labor & delivery nurse (because that is what I know): You receive report in 30 minutes on the 1 or 2 patients you are assigned. You meet your patients, complete your assessments and verify physician orders (about 1 hour). Focused assessments are completed every 30-60 minutes on each patient for the remainder of the shift. Ensure that you are ready for a vaginal delivery-the room is prepared. If a cesarean delivery may be a possibility for your patient, ensure that all personnel are aware and the operating room is prepared. Administer medications as ordered throughout the shift. Perform appropriate interventions as needed based on your assessments, and notify the physician/midwife of changes in status and labor progress. Assist the anesthesia provider with epidural administration if requested by the patient and monitor the patient closely for the first 1 hour (vital signs as frequent as every 2 minutes). When it is time for your patient to start pushing for the delivery of the baby, you hand-off your second patient to another nurse. You then coach the mother in her pushing efforts and notify the provider appropriately when it is time for them to come for the delivery. At the delivery, you immediately assess the newborn to determine if it is safe for the baby to remain skin-to-skin contact (on the mother's bare chest) or if the baby requires interventions. After the delivery of the placenta, you then begin every 15 minute assessments on the mother and the newborn for the next 1-2 hours. As long as both are doing well, you then transfer them to the maternity unit and give report to another nurse.
Whew!!! You made it. Unless of course you have to assist another mother..... In a busy L&D unit each nurse can assist with 2-3 births within a 12 hour period.
I hope that was helpful!!!!!!!!