In This Discussion, Emphasis is on How Well you Manage Time
In This Discussion, Emphasis is on How Well you Manage Time
In this discussion, emphasis is on how well you manage time. As a leader and even a nurse, you have limited time to get a great deal done. Awareness of how you spend your time and finding strategies to improve on it, will not only help you be efficient and effective but will also help in balancing your work and your life.
Complete Learning Exercise 9.9 in your textbook. (COPY AND PASTED BELOW)
After reading the \”Plan Your Day\”,
Assign a priority to each of the 13 items with 1 being the most important and 5 being the least important.
Decide when you will deal with each item, being careful not to use more time than you have open on your calendar.
If the problem is to be handled immediately, explain how you will do this (e.g., delegated, phone call).
Explain the rationale for your decisions.
LEARNING EXERCISE LESSON 9.9 – PLAN YOU DAY (Copy and Pasted)
LEARNING EXERCISE
9.9
Plan Your Day
It is October of your second year as Nursing Coordinator for the surgical department. A copy of your appointment calendar for Monday, October 27, follows.
Appointment Calendar for Monday, October 27
8:00 AM Arrive at work
8:15 AM Daily rounds with each head nurse in your area
8:30 AM Continuation of daily rounds with head nurses
9:00 AM Open
9:30 AM Open
10:00 AM Department Head meeting
10:30 AM United Givers committee
11:00 AM United Givers committee continued
11:30 AM Open
Noon Lunch
12:30 PM Lunch
1:00 PM Weekly meeting with administrator—budget and annual report due
1:30 PM Open
2:00 PM Infection control meeting
2:30 PM Infection control meeting continued
3:00 PM Fire drill and critique of drill
3:30 PM Fire drill and critique of drill continued
4:00 PM Open
4:30 PM Open
5:00 PM Off duty
You will review your unfinished business from the preceding Friday and look at the new items of business that have arrived on your desk this morning. (The new items follow the appointment calendar.) The unit ward clerk is usually free in the afternoon to provide you with 1 hour of clerical assistance and you have a charge nurse on each shift to whom you may delegate.
1. Assign a priority to each item, with 1 being the most important and 5 being the least important.
2. Decide when you will deal with each item, being careful not to use more time than you have open on your calendar.
3. If the problem is to be handled immediately, explain how you will do this (e.g., delegated, phone call).
4. Explain the rationale for your decisions.
Correspondence
Item 1
From the desk of M. Jones, personnel manager
October 24
Dear Joan:
I am sending you the names of two new graduate nurses who are interested in working in your area. I have processed their applications; they seem well qualified. Could you manage to see them as early as possible in the week? I would hate to lose these prospective employees, and they are anxious to obtain definite confirmation of employment.
Item 2
From the desk of John Brown, purchasing agent
October 23
Joan:
We really must get together this week and devise a method to control supplies. Your area has used three times the amount of thermometer covers as any other area. Are you taking that many more temperatures? This is just one of the supplies your area uses excessively. I’m open to suggestions.
Item 3
Roger Johnson, MD, chief of surgical department
October 24
Ms. Kerr:
I know you have your budget ready to submit, but I just remembered this week that I forgot to include an arterial pressure monitor. Is there another item that we can leave out? I’ll drop by Monday morning, and we’ll figure something out.
Item 4
October 23
Ms. Kerr:
The following personnel are due for merit raises, and I must have their completed and signed evaluations by Tuesday afternoon: Mary Rocas, Jim Newman, Marge Newfield.
M. Jones, personnel manager
Item 5
Roger Johnson, MD, chief of surgical department
October 23
Ms. Kerr:
The physicians are complaining about the availability of nurses to accompany them on rounds. I believe you and I need to sit down with the doctors and head nurses to discuss this recurring problem. I have some free time Monday afternoon.
Item 6
5 AM
Joan:
Sally Knight (your regular night RN) requested a leave of absence due to her mother’s illness. I told her it would be OK to take the next three nights off. She is flying out of town on the 9 AM commuter flight to San Francisco, so phone her right away if you don’t want her to go. I felt I had no choice but to say yes.
Nancy Peters, night supervisor
P.S. You’ll need to find a replacement for her for the next three nights.
Item 7
To: Ms. Kerr
From: Administrator
Re: Patient complaint
Date: October 23
Please investigate the following patient complaint. I would like a report on this matter this afternoon.
Dear Sir:
My mother, Gertrude Boswich, was a patient in your hospital, and I just want to tell you that no member of my family will ever go there again.
She had an operation on Monday, and no one gave her a bath for 3 days. Besides that, she didn’t get anything to eat for 2 days, not even water. What kind of a hospital do you run anyway?
Elmo Boswich
Item 8
To: Joan Kerr
From: Nancy Newton, RN, head nurse
Re: Problems with X-ray department
Date: October 23
We have been having problems getting diagnostic x-ray procedures scheduled for patients. Many times, patients have had to stay an extra day to get x-ray tests done. I have talked to the radiology chief several times, but the situation hasn’t improved. Can you do something about this?
Item 9
To: All department heads
From: Storeroom
Re: Supplies
Date: October 23
The storeroom is out of the following items: Toilet tissue, paper clips, disposable diapers, and pencils. We are expecting a shipment next week.
Telephone Messages
Item 10
Sam Surefoot, Superior Surgical Supplies, Inc., returned your call at 7:50 AM on October 27. He will be at the hospital this afternoon to talk about problems with defective equipment received.
Item 11
Donald Drinkley, Channel 32-TV, called at 8:10 AM on October 27 to say he will be here at 11:30 AM to do a feature story on the open-heart unit.
Item 12
Lila Green, Director of Nurses at St. Joan’s Hospital, called at 8:05 AM on October 24 about a phone reference on Jane Jones, RN. Ms. Jones has applied for a job there. Isn’t that the one we fired last year?
Item 13
Betty Brownie, Bluebird Troop 35, called at 8 AM on October 27 about the Bluebird troop visit to patients on Halloween with trick-or-treat candy. She will call again.
THE LESSON 9.9 WAS PULLED FROM THIS BOOK:
Marquis, B. L.(2017). Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing. [Bookshelf Ambassadored]. Retrieved from https://ambassadored.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781496374851/