faxed handoff report

[kryn115]

I have read some hospitals are faxing hand off reports from the ER to the in patient floors.

It has been started in my hospital but now they want to expand to the ICU's I don't know how accurate information can be put on paper for a critically ill patient.

I'm interested in hearing from members if their hospitals fax reports to the ICU's, if its working and if it was done away with due to problems.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

I've seen a faxed report from two different locations. The print on both reports are so small that it is unreadable. I asked the nurse to read it to me and she wasn't able to. So I asked that she tells me what it said since she completed the report, and she wasn't able to. I asked her to give me a verbal report instead, and she wasn't able to. So I asked that she take the patient back to where she brought him from. She proceeded to do that until the charge nurse intervened and called the ER for a phone report since even the charge nurse couldn't read the report. I haven't seen a faxed report since.

When we get the call or look on the bed board to see who has been assigned, we automatically (usually the charge nurse) goes into the oatient's chart to see what's going on with the patient and what has been done. More and more, people are trying to take the human touch out of nursing. Collaboration and 'verbal' communication are aspects of patient care that should NEVER be replaced.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Just to clarify, that nurse said she wasn't able to give a verbal report because she said she was not supposed to because she faxed the (unreadable) report instead. I've never called any of my colleagues an idiot....and I won't start now.