Communication Tips – Your Loved Ones

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Who You’ll Hear

Kati Kleber, MSN RN– Nurse educator, former cardiac med-surg/stepdown and neurocritical care nurse, author, and speaker.

You’re about to have a lifestyle change – you’ll need some grace
- Night before, night of work you’ll be DEAD
- Plan for shifts and allow time to recover/reflect/learn – don’t do stuff before or after a shift – laundry and things, don’t expect to have energy to get up before work or stay up late after
Expect messy missteps
- Be quick to apologize and own your part of miscommunications
Spend a little time walking through a day in the life so they truly understand what is being asked of you
- People who are not nurses do not truly understand what a difficult day is like as a nurse. They often equate a difficult day to their frame of reference, which may be challenging but it’s not likely on the level that you’re dealing with
Get a pre/post shift routine established
- Include a way for you to personally debrief
- Talk about your day but don’t let it over take you
- Nursing is what you do, it’s not everything about you – these boundaries are really important to cultivate
Communicate expectations, how you support one another

Hi, I’m Kati.

I'm a nurse educator, author, national speaker, and host of the FreshRN® Podcast. I created FreshRN® – an online platform meant to educate, encourage, and motivate newly licensed nurses in innovative ways.

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