code blog – tales of a nurse » Blog Archive » My Brain is Overwhelmed with Info

Girlvet at Madness: tales of an emergency room nurse recently posted something I’ve been thinking about a bit lately:

There are times at work when I am astounded at the amount of information that we are expected to absorb. Honestly it is hard to think of another job in which new information is given, and expected to be remembered, on a daily basis. And the information is not simple it is often complex. New drugs, procedures,etc. I’ve had the thought of trying sometimes to write down what we are asked to retain. It would fill an encyclopedia.

I work every other weekend. That amounts to one day a week. Do you remember how you feel at work after a 2 week vacation? That’s how I feel at work all the time.

I used to feel pretty competent at work, and I still do. But more and more I’m going into work and finding that I don’t know a whole bunch of things. I don’t make it a rule to refuse patient assignments, but a couple of months ago I had to do just that. Both patients assigned to me were on the same IV drip – a drug I had NEVER worked with before. And both patients were being titrated frequently.

I felt pretty lame admitting that I didn’t feel comfortable taking the assignment. I have routinely taken the sickest patients in the unit – multiple drips, CVVH, etc. I would still feel comfortable taking the sickest patients as long as I were familiar with the drugs being infused.

Every time I go to work, there’s some new piece of equipment, a new technology (most recently hypothermia therapy and abdominal pressure readings) we’ve just implemented, or a different way of doing a procedure. I’ve been trained in everything, but when you go months and months between learning something and then getting a chance to implement it, things get a bit rusty.

I hope I can stay current enough to at least keep taking the “easy” patients.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy 2009. Happy new year!

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i feel exactly the same way. we have staff in our units who are in nursing school, and sometimes, they would ask about their lessons, and man, i seriously am embarassed to say that i have forgotten all about those fluid and electrolyte facts that i have no idea how i’m gonna last longer with all the other new informations i am expected to know.

happy new year to you and your family too!

I sometimes google stuff up on my phone or one of the web-enabled computers at the nursing station.

Grrrrll. I know how you feel!
I’m the same way with my old job. I have all the proper training, but the old adage holds soo true.
If you don’t use it, you lose it!
It’s tough.
Happy New Year!

I know how you feel. I’ve been out of clinical practice for 2 years and just started volunteering at Walter Reed. I’m getting back in the swing of things, but bionic limbs are pretty complicated! :)

1. I feel your pain. Almost admittded a 35 wk pregnanat chick with a R parietal mass for seizures…until we all realized that we are a pedi IMU and dont do pregnant adults…

2. What is abdominal girth pressure?

[...] http://www.codeblog.com/archives/tales_from_the_ccu/my-brain-is-overwhelmed-with-info.html [...]

wow…i can’t believe i found a blog i like and can relate to

did eow in the 80’s in the units…thru four kids…then dialysis, then med surg…then endoscopy…then working full-time when my husband lost his job…now back to part-time…thank GOD…i’d quit but still need the benefits for the family…my point is

yes, nursing is tough and constantly changing and chock? full of info that we need to know…mind-boggling,not to mention EVERYTHING else…a job for the strong of spirit

BUT what other job out there has as much flexibility…that we can find what we need> when we need it<in hours, days $$ and benefits…none that i’ve heard of

and that is why i didn’t talk my daughter out of nursing

the work is exhausting…but if you’re lucky you will find your niche

even most days i still ‘hate my job’ esp. because now i am back on a med/surg floor (because of the critical need and hence FLEXIBILITY) i thank God for it…esp in today’s economy…with my husband over fifty and overqualified unmarketable status

he has two master works twice as long and makes less on salary

so nursing is tough..but i would still do it all over again, because we can truly make a difference ie DO GOOD
while making $ ie DO WELL

[...] The author of the Code Blog had an interesting post recently. She commented that working only every other weekend, she was beginning to feel out of touch with some aspects of patient care, to the point that she actually refused a patient assignment because she didn’t feel like she was up to the task. [...]

No, I don’t work in medicine, but I’ve done (and still do) a lot of things that require keeping up with tons of information. Researcher, writing, tech. The consequences of failure aren’t as critical, of course, but that isn’t my point.

It is clear from your post that two things are needed: first, develop the tools and procedures to manage this type of information at the rate you are expected to; second, train the people who need these tools / procedures in their use. And the fact that procedures need to be customised for individual use.

I’m surprised no one has caught on that this is necessary. This is not meant as a criticism of you or of nurses in general – but the people in administration should have figured this one out years ago.

Although you shouldn’t have to, if you are interested in tackling this problem on your own, a few hints. First, tools: I don’t know enough about the environment you work in to suggest specifics here, but whatever will work – in your circumstances – for quick infotrapping or “capture”. Tiny notebook and good pen, micro-recorder, software, whatever you can use. Use “tags” for easier organising later (if you don’t understand tagging, or how to set up your own taxonomy, Google should help…). Procedures: basically, a method for quick review. If you review information repeatedly for a few days, you can then pause, review it every few days, then every few weeks, and so on: there’s even a freeware app set up on this principle. I can’t recall it’s name; it is among the ones I’ve downloaded and haven’t yet catalogued. :-/ Anyway, figure out a quick review process that works for you – again, circumstances make a huge difference. If you get to work on mass tranist, you could use that time for review, whereas, if you drive, you’d have to find another time.

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