A Typical Day:
Anna: Arrive to work around 0515/0530 am. Attempt to speed review patients’ events from the night. Rounding starts at 7:45/8 am I will present on 8 ICU patients. The other nurse practitioner or physican assistant I’m rounding with will present on another 8 . We will end rounding around at 2 or 3 pending any major interruptions of rounds (interruptions being, ya know, small things like patients coding, self extubations, urgent admissions, etc.). Depending on how many procedures we need to do should we attempt to get a little food down our throats or try and get something done then attempt eating.
Did I drink water today? I filled up my 1L water bottle at the start of my shift, drank half and now is the time to finish and refill.
I attempted to snack during rounds but #covid has made snacking while rounding slightly less acceptable while rounding outside patient rooms. I leave the hospital around 7:30/8 , when I get home I always make sure to have a large glass of water and eat some dinner.
Jess: I arrive at work around 5:45-6am and immediately hit the ground running. I host anywhere between 6-12 patients across the floors/ICUs. RAPID rounding happens from 6:15-7:00 with the surgery residents where I perform assessments, make care plans, put out any fires, and prep for admissions/discharges. Then I round again [typically multiple times throughout the day – yes, very efficient 🙁 ] with the attendings. Between the hours of 8am-9:30am is when I bang out as many notes as I can and then prioritize the discharges. 9:30am-10:30am is when I round with the bedside nurses where I make the plan of care for the day. Immediately after that I get in touch with physical therapy to prioritize my patients who need to be discharged. Did I eat? Did I drink water? Who knows… but wait! My first admission is already on the way from the PACU at 10:45! And then two other patients need to be discharged and need their meds delivered from the pharmacy. Then a rapid response happens and my whole day is interrupted. Then an ER admission with COVID needing emergent surgery on an ischemic limb. I’m typically always keeping snacks in my pocket and eating on the go. I’m always setting alarms on my phone to remind myself to drink water too. By 2-3pm I have a break and update discharge documents and then round again independently on my patients to ensure my care plans have been carried out [sometimes these rounds take longer because I can finally do my favorite thing – talk to my patients one on one and get to really know them :)]. 6pm I sign out to the night resident and usually chug a water as I’m walking out the door, especially if I’m trying to squeeze in a post work run or strength workout.
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