Bedside report

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I know there are many posts on this subject. We were just told we WILL be doing this under no uncertain terms. We have semi private rooms. We have dementia pts,confused people , psych pts, drug seekers, etc now. How is bedside report going to help them feel like a special snowflake when they arent even able to participate in the report, yet their room mate probably will know more about them then they do.

Are all hospitals going to this crap, or is it just "magnet" ones? More like opposing magnet.

oh, and when iI read prev. posts that " oh we just give the abbreviated versions in front of the pt ( so i guess they can feel all warm and cozy inside that we chose to include them in their" plan of care , lol), we have also been told NO- we will the the WHOLE report in the rooms- there are not to be any nurses out at the nursing stations sitting down. And we will also be having senior management personel following us around and critiquing our reports.

Gee, if I wanted to become an actor, I would have gone to school for that.

Any thoughts??

Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Supervisory, HEDIS, IT.
I know there are many posts on this subject. We were just told we WILL be doing this under no uncertain terms. We have semi private rooms. We have dementia pts,confused people , psych pts, drug seekers, etc now. How is bedside report going to help them feel like a special snowflake when they arent even able to participate in the report, yet their room mate probably will know more about them then they do.

Are all hospitals going to this crap, or is it just "magnet" ones? More like opposing magnet.

oh, and when iI read prev. posts that " oh we just give the abbreviated versions in front of the pt ( so i guess they can feel all warm and cozy inside that we chose to include them in their" plan of care , lol), we have also been told NO- we will the the WHOLE report in the rooms- there are not to be any nurses out at the nursing stations sitting down. And we will also be having senior management personel following us around and critiquing our reports.

Gee, if I wanted to become an actor, I would have gone to school for that.

Any thoughts??

I am a nursing student graduating in April and the hospital I am doing my preceptor ship encourages bedside reporting. I can tell you that the patients do appreciate it more when you are in there, even if they only understand 1/2 of what is being said. Doing clinicals in hospitals in this city where you do not have bedside reporting I found I personally did not like. The patient seemed to like seeing the informal handoff to the oncoming nurse. Just my perception...

As for the patients with dementia, psych issues - that might be a little different scenario. I worked in a hospital as a pharm tech where I used to see the nurses record their report on a cassette tape with those old time tape recorders (the BIG ones). Who knows if people still do that...or some form of it...

Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Supervisory, HEDIS, IT.

BTW...I love your "special snowflake" phrase. It cracks me up and I will be using that one in the future :)

Can't even imagine!!

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We have always done this, even before it was in vogue. If there are family there and there are sensitive things we need to say we do so before we go to the bedside. You get used to it. And it does help to go over lines, etc and check IVF and expiration dates. You also get to see what IV sites look like or something else you need to see so you can make comparisons later. If you have computers in each room, you just use that do go thru the flow sheet and MAR and orders. Once you get used to it, report goes pretty fast. If there is family there with other visitors we ask if it is okay if we talk about their child in front of th.

Specializes in PCCN.

Are yiu in nicu? I believe that setting makes total sense for that type of report, and how many are you giving report on? We could be receiving report on anywhere from 5-7 pts depending on shift. Makes for a long report /

Hospital wide we are expected to do bedside report. Many floors, it is enforced heavily, even requiring nurses to write their managers notes when bedside report didn't happen. On my floor? yes, it's expected, and usually happens. As an oncoming nurse, I like it, I can see my patient and assess a few things quickly as the offcoming nurse tells me. Had a couple of times where the pt was unresponsive or AOX1 and was AOx3. Also.... I've noticed that now that the hospital has been enforcing bedside report, a lot more codes get called between 0700 and 0730!

Anyways, with all things, we use are nursing judgement. somethings just are NOT appropriate to be said at the bedside.

Specializes in PCCN.

Ok I get that some things are not appropriate at the bedside- but since we were told the whole report is to be given in the rooms, and there should be NO nurses out on the floor, when are we supposed to give those "sensitive " details? And as for time, sometimes I , when on days , might get report from 4 different nurses. Being that we are in the pt room- if the pt starts bringing up questions, complaining, etc- that report will be taking a much longer time than in the past.

Call me dumb here but wouldn't bedside report in a NON private room be a big HIPAA violation??

While it certainly violates the spirit of privacy rules, it's not actually a violation. Your roommate hearing things is merely "incidental" or some other BS that allows hospitals to get away with keeping their semi-privates.

Ok I get that some things are not appropriate at the bedside- but since we were told the whole report is to be given in the rooms, and there should be NO nurses out on the floor, when are we supposed to give those "sensitive " details? And as for time, sometimes I , when on days , might get report from 4 different nurses. Being that we are in the pt room- if the pt starts bringing up questions, complaining, etc- that report will be taking a much longer time than in the past.

THAT is the one weapon you have. Make it take longer. Once the incidental overtime starts adding up, and this idiocy costs money, only then will management rethink things.

By the way, I have to know what special snowflake terms you were given to sugarcoat the truth enough to say it in front of the patient. Please share!!!

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

We also have done it on our peds floors where we would have 4 or 5 patients. Our med surf floors do it and they have become pretty efficient at it. If you use SBAR it usually goes pretty quickly.

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

The Adult Med/Surg. facility I work at has done SBAR at the bedside for quite some time and for the most part it isn't that big of a deal to be honest. I give my report to the oncoming nurse in front of the patient (including Psych. patients) and if I need to say something that is really sensitive or a side note that I don't wish to say in front of the patient I will do so after we leave the room. I include Psych. patients in my previous comment because I believe that by giving the SBAR in front of the patient (instead of in the hallway outside of the room) it decreases the patient's anxiety and lets them know exactly what your saying about them in the presence of another staff member. Some Psych. patient's tend to get more agitated if they think you are talking about them to another nurse in the hallway. I also like bedside reporting because I can see IV sites, ostomies, wounds and give the patient a quick look with the nurse I am getting report from/giving report to. It has its Pros/Cons but I do think that some patients (especially if they are AAO X 3 and really paying attention to what is going on) really like to hear what is being passed on in report.

!Chris :specs:

I can see both sides of this argument. The big upside I can see to bedside reporting is that both nurses are laying eyes on the patients at the same time. I know that many times over the years, there was a huge disconnect between the picture painted in report and how that patient looked when I went into the room. In the PACU, we phone a report and then have to wait for an RN to come into the room to take over care on the floor. Coordinating this can be a nightmare; however, both nurses are laying eyes on the patient at the same time, which helps ensure a reliable exchange of information.

That being said, I do not think it is always appropriate that the entire report be given in front of a patient. I think it could be embarrassing and perhaps frightening for a patient to hear that twice a day. "This is Mr. Smith, he is a 68 year old DM2, with a history of ETOH abuse, schizophrenia, hypertension, MI, etc, etc, etc. He had a left TKA yesterday and because he is on daily pain medications, he has needed x, y, z, for pain management and rates his pain at 15/10. His latest labs show a whole lot of crazy scary stuff that his doctor hasn't reviewed with him yet, and it is really freaking him out to hear me tell you. I put in a call to Dr. Important regarding his total lack of urine output, but they have not bothered to call me back. We are waiting for a social worker consult before discharge because his (insert family member) is believed to be stealing his pain meds and unable to care for him at home. Let me just keep saying a whole lot of stuff that you really need to know, but is scaring and angering Mr. Smith at the same time, blah, blah, blah." Awesome customer satisfaction scores or incomplete reporting? I guess that's our choice.

Specializes in PCCN.

By the way, I have to know what special snowflake terms you were given to sugarcoat the truth enough to say it in front of the patient. Please share!!!

I was so "not happy " about the paper I left it in my locker, and thank God I've had two days to cool off (lol) . I will bring it home and put it on here. It was ridiculous !

+ Add a Comment