Agency removing communication log?

[SDALPN]

I'm not sure if this is agency wide or just my local office. But I was told they will be removing the communication log. How do we communicate with the other nurses about things that don't belong in the notes? Like recommendations from therapists, upcoming appointments, requests made by parents (like don't use tape on the patient), communicating that something was ordered so everyone doesn't order the same thing or worse that something doesn't get ordered. We don't see each other on some cases and some nurses are awful at passing info on. Someone always gets left out if it's by word of mouth. This just doesn't make sense to me. Parents can't be relied on to pass info either. The agency almost never lets us know what's going on and they tend to withhold info. They try to keep us in the dark about so much. Any thoughts?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Since they are technically part of the record and subject to discovery in the event of a law suit or potentially by insurance in an audit..... I will bet someone wrote something they shouldn't have and the agency got dinged.

I've seen some less than intelligent things written in the comm log. Teenaged cat fights between nurses. Heck one nurse was trying to incite me and got more cranky when I refused to engage in petty crap that had nothing to do with patient care.

One nurse documented more in log than she did in the patient chart

[SDALPN]

Since they are technically part of the record and subject to discovery in the event of a law suit or potentially by insurance in an audit..... I will bet someone wrote something they shouldn't have and the agency got dinged.

I've seen some less than intelligent things written in the comm log. Teenaged cat fights between nurses. Heck one nurse was trying to incite me and got more cranky when I refused to engage in petty crap that had nothing to do with patient care.

One nurse documented more in log than she did in the patient chart

I get that. But the comm log is still necessary. Either that or the agency needs to come up with a better way to communicate. I'm glad it's a legal record for the things that don't belong in nursing notes. Otherwise nobody is on the same page.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

I agree but admin response in any industry is all or nothing.

Why not supervisor review and document re-education of nurses who use comm log inappropriately rather than remove ? Better yet advise all what the citation was for ?

I work two agencies. Both recently sent out email and mail blasts about confidentiality and documentation issues that cause citations or rescinding of payment for services with pretty specific examples ( not enough to ID patient or nurse but good examples of what not to do). We recently got a blast about appropriate use of communication logs complete with good & bad examples. Better than pulling the logs. IMHO.

[CloudySue]

They don't use them in my agency. Another agency I worked for allowed it, and I seem to recall it was a great place for nurses to nitpick at what other nurses were doing. It really got catty and territorial.

[systoly]

we don't have a communication log anymore either

it really wasn't that valuable to me anyway as invariably

someone would write about how many loads of laundry

they did, but forget to mention the new med order, the episodes

of resp. distress the day before, or the new wound

so after my days off, i look at the mar, the 485, po section,

past days clinical notes, seizure records. etc.

i don't feel comfortable not leaving a written report for

any change in status, new orders etc, so i write a report on

a regular nurse note and place it in the outside sleeve of the

chart - so far nobody has said anything and a few other nurses

have started doing this

im sure this has a limited life time

[caliotter3]

Communication logs are official documentation, and that is why nurses need to be careful what they put in them and how they word their entries. The agency collects the log when it is full and it is kept with the records. Those agencies are careful about briefing their nurses on how to use the communication log because they can be, and have been, utilized in lawsuits. Other agencies don't pay any attention to the logs, or even if there is a log. And then there are those agencies that do not allow a log because of the legal ramifications and/or because they can not control how the nurses use them. From what I have seen, the logs are necessary most of the time; because most of the time there is no interface between nurses. However, when the client removes the log pages, or copies those pages along with the nursing documentation, or the nurses call each other names on a daily basis; no, I won't deal with those fires waiting to happen.

[PerfectlyPlump, ADN, RN]

I have mainly encountered logs required by moms.

[smartnurse1982]

Doesn't leaving the nursing notes in the chart when your shift is over solve this problem?Instead of going through the communication book I just look at the previous shift's nursing notes,even though we have a few nurses who refuse to leave their copies of their nurse shift notes behind.

[SDALPN]

Doesn't leaving the nursing notes in the chart when your shift is over solve this problem?Instead of going through the communication book I just look at the previous shift's nursing noteseven though we have a few nurses who refuse to leave their copies of their nurse shift notes behind.[/quote']

Some things don't belong in the chart. I'm not going to put a note in the pts chart to let the next nurse know I opened the last box of gloves and that they need to order more (assuming its Sunday and things can't be ordered til Mon). There are just things that need to be communicated and that don't belong in the chart.

[CloudySue]

Doesn't leaving the nursing notes in the chart when your shift is over solve this problem?Instead of going through the communication book I just look at the previous shift's nursing notes,even though we have a few nurses who refuse to leave their copies of their nurse shift notes behind.

Those copies of shift notes are for the client's caregivers, they have a right to see what sort of care being done for their child. Parents should always insist their copy is left in the chart.