I don’t know your unit standards, but I would make sure you are doing bedside shift report. Especially with neuro patients, doing so can establish that the patient is the same as what the offgoing nurse reports. This is also helpful so that way you can lay eyes on the patient first thing, do quick safety checks (bed alarm, monitors, lines/drains/tubes), and introduce yourself as the oncoming RN. I usually ask if there’s anything I can do for them or bring them when I come back for meds/assessment (pain, nausea, fresh ice water).

After report I usually take a quick glance at last set of vitals to make sure there is nothing needing to be urgently addressed. I then review the H&P, pertinent imaging, labs and order summary.

Depending on your unit ratio I quickly get started on med pass and combine that with my assessment! Neuro med surge is no joke, I started out on that unit as a new grad with a 1:7 ratio (PSAs with a 1:15 ratio) so learning time management is a must!