Bedside Report

I like it. We ask family to leave for a few moments, and if the patient doesn't care, they'll say "It's okay if they stay" (that's what usually happens). We wake the patients for bedside report. We thought that was going to be awful, but it turned out that very few people mind and most people actually like it--they told our manager this, repeatedly. When we had long-term patients, depending on the person either we wouldn't wake them anymore or we'd just wake them to say "Hey, it's me again, I'll see you when I wake up".

My floor had good buy-in, but other floors didn't. This made it hard when we had float nurses, because they would try to refuse to take (or give) bedside report. We just smiled and waited when they said "Oh, I don't want to do that garbage."

Formulate a plan for what you're going to say (this is an adjustment, but doesn't take too long), don't give report without acknowledging the patient (don't just do your regular report only standing at the bedside), and use the format to your benefit--show the things you currently have to tell, like where a dressing is and what the settings are on the PCA.

You have NO CHOICE to make this part of your practice.

See the recent threads regarding bedside report. Management feels this is mandatory to fulfill the customer service model.

Patients want to see the nurse they learned to trust on the off -going shift.. hand over their care to the next shift.

Of course, you will not give the negative points in front of the patient. This now requires a '"separate" and additional side report.

"This patient is a drug seeker, this patient's family is demanding," etc.

Just another task we must undertake ...

My pet peeve.

Two separate threads on the same subject within days/hours of each other. *sigh

You have NO CHOICE to make this part of your practice.

See the recent threads regarding bedside report. Management feels this is mandatory to fulfill the customer service model.

Patients want to see the nurse they learned to trust on the off -going shift.. hand over their care to the next shift.

Of course, you will not give the negative points in front of the patient. This now requires a '"separate" and additional side report.

"This patient is a drug seeker, this patient's family is demanding," etc.

Just another task we must undertake ...

Exactly, There is a whole other thread about this. There is no choice, no one cares what is best practice or not. 2 reports must be given on MANY patients. It will depend HIGHLY on the patient population you get. Some it goes by faster because there is NOTHING sensative in the pt's history so u can start and say - pt here with hx- uterine ca- hysterectomy abd incision. diet is clears so on and on and on- getting morphine/percocets for pain, pain well controled. easy enough. when most of your patients are like the following one it will need 2 reports- pt here with gsw in chest and abdomen, charges pending , hx current iv coke and heroin use which pt denies, although tests positive , already paged for an increase in pca dose and dr said no, see who is on call now, no visitors allowed as the last visitors were opposing gang memebers. ........- when many of the pts are like this, it will take longer.