You know more than anyone
that, although immensely rewarding, nursing is a challenging field of work. If
you are going through nursing school thinking that these 12-hour shifts are not
that challenging because they would only happen a few times throughout the
week, you will be surprised at how challenging they actually are. There are
occasions at which you would feel tired, to say the least, and you would feel
like the shifts are not 12-hours but more like 12 days. This is where you might
want to take advantage of a few helpful tips and tricks that are going to help
you significantly.
There are things that you
could do in order to successfully create the illusion of time passing faster.
The truth is that this is going to help you out significantly. Not only will
you get through these long hour shifts quicker and with more convenience, you
would also be able to do your job a lot more productively and with greater
efficiency. With this in mind, we would like to provide you with 5 things which
are definitely going to help you out in this particular endeavor.
1. Keep
yourself busy
There’s nothing which is
going to get the time to fly by faster than keeping yourself occupied.
Regardless of the fact that it may actually sound a bit overwhelming, you will
quickly start to notice the considerable difference. In fact, if you have
nothing to do, you can go ahead and find yourself something to stay busy with.
Help a colleague or handle some filing – there’s always something to be done in
the hospital.
Related: How
to Benefit from Networking
The best thing to do is to
maintain a productive and steady workload in order to get through your 12-hour
shift quickly and conveniently. A hectic pace at work is going to make you feel
overwhelmed and stressed as well as exhausted. However, a slow pace is actually
going to lead to fatigue as well as to boredom. This is why you need to find
the perfect balance by prioritizing the important task and conveniently pacing
yourself. Stay busy but do not rush or frazzle things up.
The best thing to do is to
complete tasks that have a deadline first and then head to do some
administrative, cleanup or organizational tasks afterwards. It’s a convenient
scheme that is going to get you wondering, “How on earth did time fly so fast?”
2. Make
sure to incorporate breaks
Now, breaks are especially
important when it comes to going through a long, 12-hour shift. You need to
ensure that you have at least 10 minutes of break time every two hours which
leads up to or follows your larger lunch break. However, you need to see that
these breaks are not chaotic and unscheduled. Instead, look at them as a gift
for a job well done. Reward yourself with a small snack or a few minutes to
read a magazine, or get a hot cup of coffee.
It’s important to take your
lunch break right in the middle of your shift. This is going to ensure that
you’ve added balance as well as harmony to your entire day. Also, it’s
important to properly prepare a meal which is well-balanced. Getting a sugar
rush is the last thing you want. This is going to lead to a temporary bout of
energy and a following wear-out so make sure to avoid this.
3. Interact
with your colleagues as well as with your patients
It is a well-known fact
that, in any field, interacting with people is going to create the illusion of
time flying faster. Some friendly chit-chat as well as light banter can make
your 12-hour shift go considerably quicker. You can ask your patients about
their interests, about what they do, and what hobbies they have. What is more,
this is going to ensure that you create some friendly ties with those people,
hence paving the way for further interactions.
You can also spend time
chatting with your coworkers whenever you get the opportunity. This is going to
add quite a lot of interest as well as diversity in your longer workday and
it’s going to help you to get through it conveniently. What is more, this is
also going to help you out considerably because you’d be able to ask for favors
later on, or to get someone that you can actually count on to help you with a
task.
4. Improve
your working system
There are a few things that
are a bit technical when it comes to working as a nurse. For instance, you are
going to be using an internal hospital database which is going to provide you
with a lot of information. Spend some time checking for new updates on the
computer that you work on, for instance.
What is more, you might want
to consolidate supplies, get your entire workplace properly organized and in
line – this is something which is going to get you thoroughly motivated. Spend
some time polishing your entire working area as well as the areas that you
usually have interactions with. Not only is this going to motivate you, but
it’s also going to bring additional convenience at the workplace, which is
going to make the entire experience a lot more pleasant. Remember – the more
pleasant the experience is, the faster the time is going to pass by. What is
more, you are going to make it easier for you to handle your tasks.
5. Get
your mind preoccupied
The truth is that during the
majority of your 12-hour shifts you wouldn’t have time to think about anything
else besides work. However, there are those inevitable situations in which you
have absolutely nothing to do. With this in mind, you might want to find
something to think about.
For instance, if you have
some event coming, start mapping out the details in your head. Of course, you
need to ensure that you do this during times at which you have nothing else to
do. You will be particularly surprised at how fast the time has passed and your
new assignment has already popped out. With this in mind, it’s important to
ensure that you have something to think about.
As you can see, there are
plenty of things that you can actually do in order to create the illusion that
time goes faster. It might seem a bit redundant if you haven’t had your first
12 hour shift as a nurse yet but you will quickly see how important this is.
This is something that they
are highly unlikely to teach you at nursing school. The truth is that this
isn’t something that you can really prepare for. It’s important to see what
works for you because every single person is strictly individual. With this in
mind, you need to ensure that you implement the best practices that help you
get through the 12-hour shift in the most convenient way. Some of the above
might not actually work for you. However, they are determined to be highly
effective in the majority of cases so you might want to give them a shot.
Related: International Nurses Association
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