What is a Nursing Rotational Schedule and How Does It Affect Nurses

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What is a Nursing Rotational Schedule and How
Does It Affect Nurses?
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Table of contents

• What is a Nursing Rotational Schedule and How
  Does It Affect Nurses?
• How to Deal with a Student Nurse Management
  Placement
• Coping with Stress in a Nursing Clinical Rotation
  Schedule

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What is a Nursing Rotational Schedule and How
Does It Affect Nurses?

• In many ways, nursing is a whole different world
  from the one that the rest of the population
  experiences. One of the major ways that it
  differs from everyone elses is the way that
  nurses are scheduled. Nurses are far more likely
  to envy the hours of a regular job than
  vice-versa.
•  
• The regular job that most people have is a
  simple, nine-to-five shift Monday to Friday.
  There are people with more difficult shifts that
  might be on evenings and weekends, but their
  schedules are usually set according to certain
  rules. Not only that, but most workers can state
  that they cant work on nights, weekends or
  certain other undesirable times.

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• This is not so for nurses. They can work a
  twelve-hour shift during the night one day and
  another twelve-hour shift during the morning and
  afternoon the next. As a result, life can be very
  hectic for nurses who need to cope with shifting
  work schedules.
•  
• Here are a few ways to make that shift work a
  little easier
•  
• Find a way to get sleep whenever you can. This
  might seem like an obvious tip, but its also one
  of the most important. The more worn down a body
  gets from lack of sleep, the harder it is to
  function. The idea of simply doing without sleep
  is a sure way for accidents to happen both on the
  job and at home, or worse, on the way home.

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• Shift work does throw off sleeping patterns, but
  its important to remember that the body still
  needs sleep and to get a good eight hours in
  whenever one can. The consequences of not doing
  so results in sleep deficits which lead to health
  problems and no job is worth that. Find the time
  to sleep!
•  
• Keep hydrated. Everyone always remembers to grab
  that cup of coffee or espresso, but they rarely
  think about that bottle of water. The body needs
  water more than caffeine or even food. The truth
  is the body is actually designed to work without
  food for short periods of time, but dehydration
  is something that it cant handle for very long.
  So, always have a bottle of water on hand!

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• Keep yourself organized. The biggest issue with
  shift rotation is having to keep it all straight!
  This is a far more difficult job for a nurse than
  most people realize because they usually dont
  have the time to organize everything, but it
  still must be done.
• This is the point where technology becomes a
  nurses best friend. Getting a daily planner and
  rotation manager app is the best way to ensure
  that shifts arent mixed up or missed. This one
  is a no-brainer as a tired mind is more likely to
  miss a shift or mix one up for another. So, those
  apps take care of the organization and allow
  nurses to concentrate on what they need to do
  nursing!
• There are many things that a nurse has to do in
  their complex home and work lives, but at least
  these few things ideas help to make things easier
  on them.

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How to Deal with a Student Nurse Management
Placement

• Getting a placement student is always a great
  honor for a nurse as it is a show of trust from
  the administration that the mentor-nurseis
  trusted, responsible, and most importantly,
  proficient in their position to warrant such a
  responsibility. This is also a busy and stressful
  time for the student which needs to be taken into
  consideration.
• Having said that, always realize that being a
  sign-off nurse for a student involves a few
  tricks to ensuring that the student graduates
  past that final hurdle. 
• Have a pep talk This sounds like something from
  a nineteen eighties sitcom, but it is important
  to do. Having a five minute talk at the beginning
  of a placement is invaluable because it lets the
  student know where the nurse stands and
  vice-versa. This is the opportunity for the
  managing nurse to let their charge know that the
  placement isnt a rubber stamp process.

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• The student nurse needs to know that the nurse
  isnt there to sign-off and let them into the
  workforce without gauging their ability. This
  major step isnt a quick cup of tea and a
  signature. Its an important pass or fail test to
  find out if the student has what it takes to be a
  full time nurse. The only way to do that is with
  real hands-on practical experience and they need
  to know that.
•  
• Be patient Keep in mind that a student has had
  a lot of study and teaching, but little in the
  way of practical experience in the field. That
  means that theyre going to make mistakes. Count
  on it, but be patient with them. They are there,
  after all, to continue learning. So, be
  informative and helpful whenever they make a
  mistake, because thats the way to ensure that
  they dont make the same mistake again!

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• Be Firm This goes along with being decisive.
  This is an opportunity for student nurses to
  learn, and a mentor-nurse who cant seem to make
  a decision and is a little too easy-going can
  send the wrong message. It can also set a
  student-nurse onto a path of bad habits.
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• Dont be a Door Mat Theres such a thing as
  being too hard on someone but theres also such a
  thing as being too lax. A student nurse is a
  responsibility that requires a firm hand, but a
  mentor can also be a friend. Friends make a shift
  fly by and have a host of advantages. But, there
  is such a thing as being a bad friend. If a
  student nurse decides to take advantage of that
  friendship and walk all over someone, then
  theyre showing bad form from the get-go. In that
  situation, dont be a doormat, let the person
  know what theyre doing is manipulative and
  inappropriate.

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• Show Them How to be Organized Organization is
  one of the greatest things a mentor can teach a
  student when it comes to nursing. Getting a
  student nurse introduced to all of those good
  habits, and good organizational software is one
  of the first things that should be done to get
  them started on the right foot!

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Coping with Stress in a Nursing Clinical Rotation
Schedule

• When a nurse starts into a regular nursing
  rotational schedule, the hours and the work can
  cause a lot of stress, which one needs to cope
  with. Its normal to be a little nervous at a new
  job, but rotational shifts combined with patients
  and an unfamiliar nursing staff can be a lot to
  handle. Here are some tips on how to cope with
  stress during a rotational schedule.
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• Stay Calm This sounds like some of the most
  obvious advice that one could expect to hear, but
  its especially good advice for nurses. Things
  can change quickly in the nursing profession and
  its best to keep on top of it by not letting the
  situation get the best of ones self. There are
  many different techniques to staying calm under
  pressure including counting back from ten,
  closing ones eyes and taking a deep breath, but
  whatever is the best solution for each person is
  what should be used.

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• Not only that, but its best to figure out the
  best stress-relief techniques for ones self
  before that first day on the job! Its also
  important to remember that the entire hospital
  doesnt depend on one new staff member. Always
  keep in mind that this is a group effort and that
  everything doesnt rest on one persons
  shoulders.
• Stay Focused There could be a hundred things
  going on in the background, but if a patient
  needs the help of a nurse, then that is their
  sole care, unless a superior changes that. Its
  not easy to keep out someone screaming in pain,
  but its important to keep focused on the task at
  hand. Again, this is an issue of other people on
  the team knowing what theyre doing, so stay
  focused on the task thats been assigned.

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• Manage Your Time There will be days worked and
  others not. There will be shifts at night and
  then during the day. This is pretty normal and
  would be a challenge for anyone. The best
  solution to this is to have a day organizer, or
  better yet, a rotational manager app to simplify
  things.
•  
• Smile This is true for the nurse, the staff
  they work with, and the patients they help.
  Smiling is good for the patients in that it
  reassures them that everything will be fine and
  that theres nothing to worry about. Do it even
  when there is something to worry about!

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• This is true for the staff in that other staff
  members need to be cheered up and it helps the
  general mood to be a little lighter. Think of it
  this way its better than everyone frowning all
  the time or looking worried!
•  
• Most importantly, smiling is better for the nurse
  in question. There is evidence to say that
  smiling actually improves ones own mood and
  feeling of self-worth. Not only that, but it has
  a number of positive effects, including a better
  immune system and a longer lifeexpectancy.
• Above all, always remember that each shift is
  just that, its just one period of time that will
  end. With a few positive changes to a persons
  approach, that shift can be a positive experience.