Bedside Reporting

I do not like the idea of giving report in front of the patient... For one thing, there might be things we need to tell each other and not let the patient know... That they are difficult, family issues etc... To me it seems like you would be giving report at the bedside and then give another report out of the patients ears... In my hospital all rooms are private, but in others I just cannot see talking about the patient with the room mate in ear shot... Not any privacy at all... Let us know how it goes... :)

When we give "bedside" report we give report outside the door at the chart pulldown and if there is any significant thing that we needed the oncoming nurse to see we just walked in and introduced the oncoming nurse to the patient and continued with the report by showing the wound, Iv site, etc. I agree, you do not want to give the entire report in front of the patient, even if the patient is in a private room. If I were the patient, I would not want to hear about my own condition at every shift change, especially if it is not good!

I also do the two part report. First part is all explained, I go over history, meds, issues, etc. Then we check orders, and then I do a quick show and tell at the bedside where we can check IV infusions.

My patient last night had 4 surgical drains, a chole tube, a G tube, a J tube and a complex abdominal dressing. It was easier just to show rather than trying to explain the location of everything.

I wouldn't like doing the entire report at the bedside, but I like the visit to the patient room after oral report.

For crying out loud, its HIPAA.

We give verbal before we enter the patients room, and then round together doing introductions and double checking wounds/lines etc.

Tait

One unit in my hospital gives a bedside report. I have floated there and did not like the bedside report. In fact, I got one of the least informative reports I have ever gotten--I suppose because I was supposed to pick it all up by osmosis since we were standing right in front of the patient. There was no place convenient for me to write while we were in the room and I did find it to be a violation of privacy but no more than any other bedside conversations we have with patients in double rooms--I guess the difference is it could easily be avoided by giving report somewhere else. I definitely did not like bedside report and I have spoken to at least a few other nurses who floated to this unit and they did not like it either.

Beside the downsides already mentioned doesn't report take longer? We are planning on doing this and frequently I get report from up to 4 different nurses. It is not like Nurse Sandy gives report on her 4 patients to Nurse Karen. It is more like Nurse Sandy gives report on 2 patients to Nurse Karen, one to Nurse Stephanie and one to Nurse Tom. We have a combo of 8/12hr shifts and a nurse returning will want whatever patients back she had the night before unless a 12 hour person is already assigned to that patient. Also what happens when you are giving report on Mrs. Jones and she needs to get up and use the commode? Obviously you are right there and should get her up. With report outside the room the CNA would probably be called. On complex patients with lots of drains or something unusual we tend to go in and show the off going nurse the unusual thing. If my shift starts at 11p I have 30 minutes to look up all pertinent info on my assignment and then get report so the off going nurse can leave at 11:30p. Just seems hard.

I wouldn't be comfortable with report in the hallway either; visitors, unlicensed staff, ambulatory patients, etc can all come walking by. Even if you speak as quietly as possible not all of us have "20/20" hearing anymore!

I do not like the idea of giving report in front of the patient... For one thing, there might be things we need to tell each other and not let the patient know... That they are difficult, family issues etc... To me it seems like you would be giving report at the bedside and then give another report out of the patients ears...

you hit the nail on the head!! we have been doing this since spring bc our facility says "its a JCHAO requirement" (which im sure it isnt), and to put it nicely , it SUCKS!! we HAVE to go in the rm, regardless if the pt is dying, sleeping, has a crap load of visitors, etc. We have to kick the family out of the rm unless the pt doesnt care that their visitors overhear all the info. supposedly this form of report is not a HIPPA violation. it takes over twice as long to get report, and its usually a half a$$ report anymore you get totally stuck in the rms with the pts, who of course dont understand usually ANYTHING you are talking about!! "wait, what?? i have PVC's??? OMG what are those?? is that bad? am I going to die!!???" (we get that ALOT) its very awkward for staff and the pt. then you are playing catch up when you start your shift behind all the time. on nights and weekends, staff doesnt even do walking report bc we all hate it; so the only time it gets done is when all the bosses are around. lol!

Well I work in a PACU where we are constantly giving bedside report, and I mean every 30 minutes to an hour we get a brand new patient. You just do it quietly--sometimes I point to the paper with the dx.

It will work, and if patient is really awake go to the foot of the bed where he can't hear.

Try it; it's actually better giving report and rounding at the same time.

P.S. NOT everyone comes out totally anesthesized, some patients come out very, very awake. So yes, we still give report.

I don't like it. It seems like it would be very frustrating. I like doing my reports at the desk where I can refer to the pt. chart and have no/minimal interruptions. Who wants to hear about their metastatic lung cancer and poor prognosis twice a day? Walking rounds to introduce yourself yes..but full report..no thanks.

My hospital has the bedside report and we like it well. All private rooms, and as far as "judgement" criteria about the patient, we have printed report sheets that we can note that on, as well as whisper about prior to room entry. It has saved many complaints about "the bed was wet/soiled", the IVFs were almost empty, and other things. To me, it doesn' take any longer. And besides, if you are communicating things with your patient (PVCs, etc) then you don't have as many explanations when rounding. I like it, but luckily, at my facility they have let the nurses work with it to make it work for us.