A graduate nurse wants to make the transition from being a student to employee a smooth one on a busy geriatric rehabilitation unit. The nurse should take which action to be more successful? Select all that apply

Question

A) Ask other nurses to perform some of the duties initially to lighten the workload, and gradually take on more of the assignment if there is time.
B) Find out before beginning the job the patient population's most frequent medical diagnoses and study the nursing care needed.
C) Ask an experienced nurse on the unit for suggestions on how to best organize care for his or her assignment.
D) Clock out at the end of the shift on time and continue to work to catch up with tasks not completed.
E) If the nurse is presented with a medical diagnosis that is unfamiliar, look it up to learn how to care for the patient and ask for help as needed.

Answer 1

Ans: B, C, E
Feedback:
The new graduate should ask for help with tasks if the nurse is behind schedule, but should not assign tasks and then take them back, if there is time. Before beginning a new job, assessing the patient population's medical diagnoses and looking up nursing care and studying it is an excellent way to be prepared for the challenges of taking a full assignment. Asking an experienced nurse working on the unit for suggestions on how to best organize care for his or her assignment is an excellent learning opportunity. The nurse may have created a report sheet to make organization of the assignments on the unit easier and may share this with the new nurse. The new nurse should not have to clock out to finish up work not completed after the shift. The nurse should be paid for working the additional time to complete the tasks. Nursing care is a round-the-clock process; the nurse should be able to report to the next shift what needs to be done for the patient. The nurse should only finish up tasks that the nurse began that have to be completed. Even the most experienced nurses will be presented with medical diagnoses they are unfamiliar with and need to look up information about what nursing care to provide. So, the new graduate should look it up quickly on the unit and ask for help as needed. The nurse could read more about the new medical diagnosis and about the nursing care needed at home to reinforce the professional growth process.