My first day as a travel nurse

I am here, on the unit, ready to start my first day of being a travel nurse.  I had two days of classroom orientation where I learnt all about codes of conduct and took HIPPA tests and fire safety.  All those wonderful things that each hospital has to have all employees do.  I was also given a NICU information guide that explains some of the guidelines in this NICU such as the visiting policy, when IV tubing gets changed, when baths are given, oxygen settings, etc.  I read over these guidelines before my first day.

I am going to get two days of orientation on the unit then I will be on my own.  I found my preceptor and introduced myself.  She was in the middle of getting report on our three babies, so I grabbed some paper and started making notes.  One thing I noticed right away is the babies have different times that their cares are due, timed 30 minutes apart.  I was told that the parents know when their babies “touch times” are and try to time visits to coincide.  After report it is time to start the cares.

I was told in orientation that all meds and breast milk are scanned at the bedside prior to giving to the baby and that another nurse must also check all meds and breast milk.   My preceptor brought a COW
(computer on wheels) to the bedside and I am ready to sign in and learn how to scan.  Or, maybe not as my codes are not working.   In the end, my preceptor signed in and I am doing everything under her name.  Next lets try the computer charting and see if those codes work, and, they do!  I am
discovering that computer charting here is different, no work list to remind me what to chart next, that means I will be writing myself a checklist.    

Caring for the babies is something that I do know how to do, just have to learn all the ways that it is different here. There are different residuals that are acceptable, different things to chart, different positioning aides, etc. I am also discovering new meds that I have not given before and that donor breast milk is widely used here. 

My first day ends with me feeling that I have much to learn and only two days to do it and when am I supposed to care for the babies when I have so much charting to do?