This charting and time management tip is brought to you from The Nurse Practitioner Charting School– the one stop for all documentation needs created specifically for nurse practitioners!
Believe it or not, nurse practitioners can eliminate distractions to improve their charting and time management!
I don’t know about you, but I can be easily distracted.
These distractions slow me down when it comes to charting. I strive to finish a note as soon as I walk out of a patient’s room, but sometimes I am bombarded by chaos. There are voicemails on my work phone. Patient questions to respond to. Numerous medication refills. A multitude of emails- still unread.
If my personal phone is sitting on my desk, I often pick it up and check for text messages. Before I know it I will have scanned my email, looked at my bank account, and spent at least 5 minutes on social media. With this lack of focus, I risk completing my charts in a timely manner and leaving the office by 5:00pm.
Here are three tips to help you eliminate distractions.
1. Shut your office door.
Seriously, we can easily become engrossed in petty chit chat with coworkers, preoccupied with questions from other staff, and multiple other distractions that keep us from charting. If I need to stay focused, I will shut my door.
If you are in a shared working space, try putting up a sign next to your desk that says “do not disturb.” Put headphones in to drown out any background noise.
These tips help you eliminate distractions and stay focused on the task of charting.
2. Eliminate distractions on your desk.
Put your phone in the drawer. Avoid checking voicemails on your work phone. Close out your email. Make it a point to have a clear work space so you can finish a note right after walking out of an exam room.
If you are charting at home, turn off the TV and put away your phone. Work in a quiet place in order to eliminate distractions. We don’t want to be spending any more time than we have to charting.
3. Stay on one screen at a time.
EHRs can be super overwhelming. When you are documenting in a patient’s chart, stay on the screen. Avoid succumbing to distractions such as medication refills, patient phone calls, and documentation/diagnostic test review.
Close out any kind of distractions on your screen such as email. I try to have a scheduled time for medication refills, patient phone calls, etc.. For example I refill medication when I get to work and around 1630. I check patient phone calls around 1130 and 1630.
I try to have some sort of routine throughout my day. Therefore, I focus on getting the charts done and refrain from additional distractions.
Seeing 20+ patients a day is difficult. But, if you can eliminate distractions, you will save so much time in your day!
It is not easy to change your charting as a nurse practitioner. But working on small changes (like when we eliminate distractions) can have a tremendous impact and help so we can STOP charting at home.
Learn more tips through The Time Management and Charting Tips Course!
For time management and charting tips, check out The Nurse Practitioner Charting School– The one stop for all documentation resources created specifically for nurse practitioners. Learn more at www.npchartingschool.com
**Full disclosure, this blog post may include affiliate links. I do receive a commission if any of the affiliate programs/services/supplies are purchased. This is at no extra cost to you but does allow me to continue to provide content as The Burned-out Nurse Practitioner! Thank you!
**Full disclosure, this blog post may include affiliate links. I do receive a commission if any of the affiliate programs/services/supplies are purchased. This is at no extra cost to you but does allow me to continue to provide content as The Burned-out Nurse Practitioner! Thank you!
