7 Time Management Tips for Busy Nurses

Posted about 4 weeks ago

Nursing is a very rewarding profession but it can also be at times very stressful and hectic. The following tips may help you to establish a good daily routine to help you feel less stressed and more productive.

1. Schedule in Advance

No two days are ever the same in the working life of a nurse, so planning ahead can be very tricky indeed. It helps though to visualise your day in advance so you have an idea about the tasks you need to accomplish during the day. Keep track of how long it takes for you to complete each task and use that knowledge to build a schedule. Knowing how much time administrative tasks take, for example, is good to know when tasks need to be rearranged.

2. Prioritise Your Tasks

As a nurse it is a priority to have good time management skills and one aspect of this is the need to prioritise your time and workload. There are four questions you need to ask yourself:

• What am I going to do first, and why?
• Which is more important, and why is that so?
• What’s the worst thing that could happen if I don’t do it quickly/now?
• What’s the most important to the patient?

By asking yourself these questions and answering them, you will be able to identify the most important activities in advance, by making informed decisions you will be more efficient at accomplishing any goals.

3. Delegate

Good time management includes knowing whether you can take on more tasks or if you should delegate and ask for help. As you are part of a team you should feel that you can delegate some tasks to allow you to have a few pauses. Always make sure you are assigning the right task to the right person under the right circumstance to ensure you are asking a suitably qualified person to do the task. This may take some time to begin with but it will be such a timesaver.

when it is needed again, it will also help to reduce work place hazards.

4. Take a Break

You must remember, you can’t take care of others when you don’t take care of yourself. Nursing is stressful and nurses often find themselves running themselves into the ground, not stopping for a second. You should have breaks whenever possible, even though you may feel that you don’t need one. Your body and your mind will appreciate the moment of calm.

Taking five minutes away from your work gives you a chance to relax, have a ‘breather’, gather your thoughts, go to the bathroom, or have an energy boosting snack, a sandwich or piece of fruit. Your brain and your body can only function at their best if you recharge the batteries with a short break.

Back to the top