What to bring in your work bag for your first day bedside.

So, it’s your first day of bedside nursing and you’re not sure what you should bring. Here’s a good place to start:

Lots of snacks! You will likely be following your preceptor’s schedule and you need to make sure you stay fueled! If you have a busy morning, you may not be able to eat until later in the day so put things in your bag that you can eat quickly if you start to get hungry. A good idea might be a bag of trail mix, granola bar, cheese sticks- things like that.

Lunch! That being said, do bring an actual meal so when you do get to take your break you can fuel appropriately as you will likely be getting a lot of steps in. 

Utensils! I don’t know why but most of the floors I have worked on don’t have utensils. Remember your fork if you need it for your lunch!

Stethoscope. No explanation needed.

Medical scissors. Often necessary for wound care, and can make a rapid response run much smoother when trying to remove clothing quickly.

Gum. No stinky breath in front of your patients and also for me helps with my anxiety.

Just don’t be chomping away in front of the patients- it’s not polite nor professional.

Water.

Lots of pens, pencils, highlighters.

Five dollars in case you want to get a coffee from the cafeteria. You’ll probably need it.

Extra hairbands. You don’t want to be caught with your hair falling into various bodily fluids.

Liquid IV drink or Emergen-C and Advil in case you start to feel under the weather.

Clipboard and whatever report sheet you want to use- with lots of copies ready to go.