Change of shift report - advice wanted

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

I'm starting orientation at what seems to be my dream job and I really want to make this work. I'm a brand new RN, with 11 years of LPN experience. I recently resigned from my LTC LPN charge nurse position to start my RN position at a hugh children's hospital.

Yesterday I shadowed on day shift, but will primarily be working PMs and nights. The night nurse gave us report. She seemed to follow a body systems approach to giving report and it didn't take long. Was very thorough. I want to do that. In long term I always went through each resident telling what was significant, or most of the time I gave report by exception since the majority of the residents remain stable.

This is my 1st hospital job. I don't want to give report the same way I did in LTC because the patients aren't the same kind. I want to do a good job with it, because it irritates me when people ramble on and on during report, or on the flip side forget to tell pertinent information.

I want opinions on how to give the best shift report that will leave the nurse coming on saying "wow, she gave me an awesome report!"

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

So follow her lead. If you like the way she gives report, than start giving your report the way she does! I give report by exception. I tell the on-coming RN a synopsis of the patient's admission and any current problems. I've learned some nurses just want the basic facts because they can look up everything else in the chart whereas other nurses want EVERYTHING that has happened and then report ends up taking like an hour

BTW, congratulations on your new job!

[sbostonRN]

We use a systems approach in our hospital. Start off with the patient's name, dx and doctor. Then go head to toe: orientation status, IV access, respiratory, cardiac, GI/GU, last BM, any edema, pain, glucose checks?, new orders?, specimens to be obtained. At the end I include anything significant that didn't fall into the above categories. This type of report typically takes me about 10 minutes to listen to 4 patients.

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

Thanks for your input. I'm gonna make a cheat sheet for myself combining info from both of your suggestions and see how that goes. I'm really excited about this job...I hope it's the one I retire from, lol

[JBudd, MSN]

I'd start with your "general survey" age/race/sex/dx/LOC/general status. Then heart/lung/belly/peripheral/IV/tests/dressings/needs. Anything unusual/family probs/stuff that needs doing.

Good luck! Congrats on the move to RN and to hospital!

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

I'd start with your "general survey" age/race/sex/dx/LOC/general status. Then heart/lung/belly/peripheral/IV/tests/dressings/needs. Anything unusual/family probs/stuff that needs doing.

Good luck! Congrats on the move to RN and to hospital!

Thank you!!! I like your suggestion about adding in the family info. That's really important when working at a children's hospital.

[schrist1374, BSN, DNP, CRNA]

We use the SBAR- situation (demographics) background (why they are here), assessment (from last shift- head to toe, vs, labs etc), recommendation (or what needs to be during the next shift). This is a nice approach because it's how we report to doctors too. Shift change is a 30 minute overlap and most people are able to give report on 4 patients within this time frame using the SBAR method.