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A Daily routine-WPS Office

A typical day for a nurse on a 12-hour day shift begins around 5:00 am and includes: conferring with the night shift nurses at 7:00 am to get updates on patient status; morning rounds starting at 8:00 am to check on patients, monitor vitals, assist with daily tasks, and administer medications; afternoon rounds at 1:00 pm to care for new patients and educate them; and preparing for the night shift by 6:00 pm which involves ensuring all documentation is complete before leaving for the night.

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Putri Bahria
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44 views

A Daily routine-WPS Office

A typical day for a nurse on a 12-hour day shift begins around 5:00 am and includes: conferring with the night shift nurses at 7:00 am to get updates on patient status; morning rounds starting at 8:00 am to check on patients, monitor vitals, assist with daily tasks, and administer medications; afternoon rounds at 1:00 pm to care for new patients and educate them; and preparing for the night shift by 6:00 pm which involves ensuring all documentation is complete before leaving for the night.

Uploaded by

Putri Bahria
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A daily routine's of a nurse

What follows is a broad outline of what a workday might be like for a nurse on a 12-hour day shift in a
hospital.

Related resource: What You Need to Know About Your First Nursing Job

5:00 a.m. – Wake up

A nurse’s day often begins before the sun is up. Many nurses are out of bed, showered, and eating
breakfast before other professionals even hit the snooze button. If there’s time in the quiet morning
hours, they’ll steal a few moments of solitude before beginning the day.

7:00 a.m. – Relieve the night shift

Most day shift nurses will begin by conferring with their colleagues on the night shift. The night staff will
update them on any change in patient status since the last day shift, admissions, or other matters they
should be aware of. At the start of their shift, nurses will also review assignments and physician notes,
and read up on each patient that they have to see to that day.

Related resource: Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Nurse

8:00 a.m. – Morning rounds

Mornings are busy for nurses. They’ll check in with each patient and record their status. Nurses check
blood work in the morning, monitor the blood sugar of diabetic patients, and check in to see if anything
requires their immediate attention. This is also a time when nurses will assist patients in ADL, or
“activities of daily living.” During this time of day, it’s common for nurses to assist patients with eating (if
they cannot do it themselves) or basic mobility. This time will also include what’s known as a “med
pass,” when nurses will administer medications to patients.

12:00 p.m. – Lunch

If they can, nurses will try to take some time for lunch in the middle of the day. This doesn’t always
happen, though. Sometimes a lunch will be whatever you can grab in between tasks. Nothing’s a
guarantee for a nurse, especially mealtimes.
Related resource: Interview With Ameritech Alumni Jennifer Dunford Shealy

1:00 p.m. – Afternoon rounds

By the afternoon, many patients who arrived in the morning could conceivably be released, and several
more will have been admitted in the interim. Nurses can often find themselves managing new patients,
administering any medications that need to be given during that time, and catching up on charting.

This is also when nurses will likely have to make use of their people skills. New patients often have to be
educated about their diagnoses and treatment plans; nurses will have to answer patient questions, and
also ensure both patients and their family members have adequately internalized what they need to
know.

Related resource: The Journey of a Former Ameritech Student and Nurse Extraordinaire

6:00 p.m. – Prepare for the night shift

Before going home, a day shift nurse will have to make sure that everything has been properly
documented and made ready for counterparts working the night shift. Nurses will check and double-
check patient charts and information that the night shift will need. When the night nurses arrive, the day
shift will brief them, leave things in their capable hands, and then go home for some hard-earned rest.

After that, a nurse has 12 hours to sleep, eat, and refresh. The next day, come 5:00 a.m., the cycle
begins all over again.

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