1. Circle around the ICU often checking on your patients, don't wait for a call on this or that, even if you're tired.
This is because there could have been an abnormal lab value during the 45 minutes you were taking care of a crashing patient, and then no one calls you for 2 hours on that sky-high troponin.
2. If the nurse is in the room when you walk in, ask her if there's anything she needs help with or anticipates needing help with. It might keep you from getting called for something that could've been prevented so you might be able to catch a nap.
3. Write down learning points on rounds. You're going to forget what you were told by the end of the day. You need to build an arsenal of knowledge daily and keep adding to it. Take a digital photo of your notes.
4. Take notes during grand rounds. Don't let it be wasted time. Get the most out of it.
5. Anticipate the worse and prepare for it. You have a cirrhotic patient with banded esophageal varices, platelets of 28, bacteremia, ascites, and they're not tachycardic or in shock..yet.
6. Check baseline creatinine, PFTs, old ekgs and old CXRs on patients. Know how things have been changing since their hospitalisation
7. When you get any new information, write it down. You'll constantly be tired, hungry, paged, called, busy and you can't afford to forget anything.
8. Don't take criticism/rude tones too harshly. I've noticed that people who talk to me a certain way talk that way to everyone.
9. Thank nursing and ancillary staff for everything, no matter how tired you are. Say things like "Thanks, I'll keep you in the loop." Smile, be polite. They'll appreciate it especially when they see the fatigue in your eyes.
10. It might not seem like you have any time, but the best time to get coffee is just before conference
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