You know what is a pet peeve of mine? Nurses whose style of receiving report involves 20 questions. Ask them until they trip me up.
They seem to have no rhyme or reason for their questions, they keep firing just random ones, or so it seems, until they achieve their goal of finding one I can't answer. Nurses from all departments do it.
Is this a form of 'The best defense is a strong offense' communication technique? Grrrrr.
Questions asked should be relevant to whatever the other person is saying at that moment otherwise keep questions until the end so you don't interrupt the other person's dialogue!
I actually gave report recently where the receiving RN did the 20 questions thing at first so I just let her...whatever floats her boat! What was more annoying was when she finally let me give report, her response every time I told her something was "of course" in a condescending manner! At the end of the report she asked repetitive questions...that's when I realized she's didn't listen and she's stupid! After I dropped off my patient, I realized I was grateful I don't have to work with her on a daily basis!
Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
GAAAHHHH! I have to give report once in a while to someone who will interrupt me to tell me what was happening with the PD patient the last time she was on 2-3 nights before. Like it is even pertinent to my report to her. I used to try to push on with my report but one day it occurred to me: why bother? She is more interested in telling me what she 'knows' and how well she handled things. Only if there is some big change or something REALLY important that she HAS TO know, do I even bother with a real report, or at least try to impress upon her that something different is going on. I just want to throttle her when I can't even get through my first sentence without her contribution that has NO bearing on the matter at hand. Ppffftt!
My response lately is "Shall I continue to give you my report about what I know to be of importance, or would you just like to ask me about the things you think are important? If you will let me finish my report, then I am happy to answer any questions you still have. If you insist on asking your questions now, I will answer only those questions. Your choice."
I start saying "I don't know" a lot when I get that. I don't mind answering good questions about the patient, but when it gets to them trying to one-up me or challenge me I start saying I don't know, or I direct them to a very extensive doctor note and tell them it's a very interesting read.
Oh MAN! I second every single thing everybody has posted. Report drives me nuts, too. Some things I really love:
How the previous nurse tells you in intricate detail how bad her day sucked then two hours into your shift, you find out somebody was having chest pain/spiking a fever/vomiting blood, etc. I'm all for being supportive but you have to tell me what happened with the pts.
Another is how after you're an hour or so into your shift, it's obvious that the previous nurse never put a stethoscope to or assessed the pt. in any way-they tell you about incisions on the wrong side of the body, dressings that don't exist, etc. It's probably what a previous poster said, they picked another nurse's brain relentlessly & copied her assessment, only they got it wrong.
Worst of all, the nurses who have their clever little "brains". I report roughly head to toe but the way I report doesn't match up to their little report sheet, so instead of listening, they wait til I address what's next on their sheet, then think I'm going to go back over everything else. One day I got really frustrated in a situation like this-in almost 15 minutes we covered only 2 pts. I finally said, if you can't keep up, write report on paper & fill in your sheet later.
I totally get that a new grad or a nurse new to the facility needs more information, but these are never the ones that pull this stuff.
I really take the time and make the effort to accurately, clearly, and thoroughly chart. I hate when I forget to spell something out in report, then the next shift calls to ask me a question, usually just as I'm falling asleep, when I KNOW it was right there in my charting.
We use standardized report sheets that the off going nurse updates, which cuts back on a lot of the dumb questions, but doesn't eliminate them by any means.
I LOVED when we started bedside report and management told us to compliment the on coming nurse in front of the patient to instill confidence. "I like your earrings."
GAAAHHHH! I have to give report once in a while to someone who will interrupt me to tell me what was happening with the PD patient the last time she was on 2-3 nights before. Like it is even pertinent to my report to her. I used to try to push on with my report but one day it occurred to me: why bother? She is more interested in telling me what she 'knows' and how well she handled things. Only if there is some big change or something REALLY important that she HAS TO know, do I even bother with a real report, or at least try to impress upon her that something different is going on. I just want to throttle her when I can't even get through my first sentence without her contribution that has NO bearing on the matter at hand. Ppffftt!
I work with a nurse like that...every report has at least one story of how something she did saved the day! Occasionally it even saved a life! It's all about her amazing intuition and skills and is often preceded by "i remember this one time..." followed by a story that may or may not be embellished about somebody who may or may not even be a resident in our facility but somewhere she used to work. I get let it go, I'm not in so much of a hurry that it ruins my day. While it used to drive me nuts, I've grown so accustomed to it now that I think I'd miss her stories if she stopped.
If you ask a question I literally just answered in my report then I am done. You obviously aren't paying attention so I won't waste my time. Just the other night "He has an 18 R AC that I gave 2L NS through" Ok so does he have an IV?......No I just willed the fluids to go into him. Sigh.
I LOVED when we started bedside report and management told us to compliment the on coming nurse in front of the patient to instill confidence. "I like your earrings."
dah doh, BSN, RN
496 Posts
Questions asked should be relevant to whatever the other person is saying at that moment otherwise keep questions until the end so you don't interrupt the other person's dialogue!
I actually gave report recently where the receiving RN did the 20 questions thing at first so I just let her...whatever floats her boat! What was more annoying was when she finally let me give report, her response every time I told her something was "of course" in a condescending manner! At the end of the report she asked repetitive questions...that's when I realized she's didn't listen and she's stupid! After I dropped off my patient, I realized I was grateful I don't have to work with her on a daily basis!