Bedside report is so much easier

[runningcrazy]

I recently picked up a prn gig in at a small local hospital in the stepdown. I always did bedside report coming from an icu. You state the usual why the patient is here, past medical history, verify drips, discuss plan of care, identify lines and drains are intact, ect It takes five minutes per patient. Not that difficult.

The nurses here refused to do bedside report. Well no way. I don't want you to tell me about a patient outside the door. Tell me about the patient with the patient in front of me. Show me that nitro drip and iv line. This other way of not including the patient and giving me a report outside the room then giving me report again adds like 20 minutes to the report process.

How do you give report in areas where you have more than two patients?

[DoeRN]

I don't think bedside report is easier but I like it better. After having 4 codes after going in to see my patients after report was given outside the room, I insist on bedside report now. For the simple reason is I can check to make sure the patient is alive. I check lines and everything else but I also make sure they are breathing. I actually wake them up and tell them I'm their nurse for the day shift unless I'm floated to the ICU. And sure enough once during bedside report we ended up coding a patient. The nurse who gave me report said the patient was fine all night. Um no rigor mortis had already set in.

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[loriangel14, RN]

We have a report sheet that we all write on. At the end of the shift the off going Charge gives report to the oncoming shift with the notes from the report sheet plus her own information from the day.

[beckyboo1, BSN, RN]

I like bedside reporting but there's another thread on here right now of ppl who very much dislike it.

[loriangel14, RN]

Except for ICU how would you protect patient confidentiality? It wouldn't work in a ward room with 4 patients and families in the room. Pulling the curtain wouldn't stop them from hearing private things. Plus we couldn't do a verbal in front of the patients and families.

"OK now this patient's family has been a pain in the a** all day...". It just wouldn't work.

[melizerd, ASN, RN]

I don't know any hospitals in my area that have shared rooms so confidentiality isn't an issue.