Giving report/day shift probs

[scooterscamp123]

Night shift nurse here!

I just wanted some advice and all of your opinions on this. I feel like giving report is a HUGE emotional hurdle sometimes when I'm coming off shift. Some of the nurses I give report to want to know EVERY MINUTE DETAIL about the patient including non relevant stuff (how many pregnancies did they have in the 1980's, what is the exact name of chemo they get five years ago, what's their favorite Beatles song), basically things they can easily LOOK UP IN THE CHART. I work in oncology FYI and in my opinion what matters in report is diagnosis, pertinent PMHx, mobility, code status, vitals frequency and how they've looked, mental/cardiac/respiratory status, skin issues, relevant meds, IV access and general plan for hospitalization and DC. THAT'S IT! If they're hemodynamically stable, medicated for pain and otherwise comfortable move on with your day and stop asking me stupid questions!!!

Now, if that isn't irritating enough these nurses that haggle me for every tiny detail not only berate and bully the night shift nurses for not memorizing the last 500 doctors notes.. OH NO, when we get report from them at night and ask them EXTREMELY important questions (Did the ultrasound show a clot?, what is the rate of the PCA?, what was the last hemoglobin?, how are they getting out of bed?), they brush it off or say they didn't have time to check!!! AND it seems like once management leaves at 3 PM all responsibilities get thrown out the window. I come on to do bedside report and these patients are screaming in pain from not getting pain meds since noon, actively vomiting or have had an IV beeping for the last hour.

Look, I understand day shift is more busy and maybe they don't have time to read every detail of a note, but when it comes to daily assessment and events of the day, the day shift nurse needs to be completely on his/her game! ESPECIALLY with high risk drugs given. Ugh! The fact that these same nurses who harass me for not knowing about the tonsillectomy a patient had in 1996 are unaware of extremely important current medical events is seriously messed up.

Ok, end rant. So what I'm asking this community is what should I do about this? A lot of my other night shift coworkers feel the same way and we've talked to management before and they haven't done anything. It's two nurses in particular here and they have seniority. I've been working about two years so I feel like a jerk telling them what to do but since they're compromising patient safety I feel the need to do something. Should I go to HR? The union? What are my resources?

[scooterscamp123]

hawaiicarl, This is fantastic! Thanks for making me laugh :)

[scooterscamp123]

A sense of humor is definitely a requirement in this field!

[vintage_RN, BSN, RN]

I get this a lot of the time In the NICU. Oftentimes we have babies born at 25 weeks who stay with us until they are 40+ weeks and have multiple complex issues. When I'm giving report on an "old chronic" baby as we call them, please don't ask me why apgars were 2 and 5, why the baby switched from CPAP to NIPPV 3 months ago and what the results of their head ultrasound 6 weeks ago was. You can read the kardex for the extensive history....I'm only telling you the pertinent, CURRENT issues.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Management is aware, and will not deal.... so you must do it. When asked about tonsillectomies in 1961, respond with " I did not have time to delve into the history, feel free to do that, when you have time".

If you are not getting pertinent information in report, make them accountable each and every time. PCA rate? Go to the bedside , make them look at it with you. The change to bedside report could be your answer,and you can make that happen.

[Guest219794]

Try sarcasm .... not advised if you are a novice at it. Something like "their last chemo was lot #23-b16e, expired 1/16/12, given through the port-a-cath with a 22 gauge access over a time of 87 minutes, there were scattered showers outside, and a robin flew by the window as it was spring." They should get the point that they are asking inane questions. If they still don't get it, ask them to repeat it back to you .... I find they are usually just not paying attention, and fill time with ridiculous questions.

My personal pet peeve is when they wander in 10 minutes after the shift started with a plate of food and coffee .... then they ask stupid questions while stuffing their face, which they don't hear the answers to because of the noxious cow chewing sounds.

Cheers

American Robin, or White Throated Robin?

I think that in this era of electronic information the lengthy verbal report is a dangerous and outdated vestige of the past. AFAIK, nursing is the only field in which this is done. After spending the whole night awake, one nurse takes a piece of information that has been electronically recorded and is easily accessible. That nurse verbalizes the information to another nurse, who then writes it down on paper. Is there a method more likely to cause mistakes? I hope to hell the guys over at the nuclear power plant have a better system.

Of course there is plenty of information not well recorded in the chart, and that is a great use of verbal report.

[caffeinatednurse, BSN, RN]

One thing that helps, is to do a bedside report. You don't have to do the full report at the bedside. But you can walk in the room with the other nurse. This gives you the opportunity to check the IV fluids (and tubing!) right then. That's also when you get to lay eyes on the patient. If they're yelling that they've been without their PRN pain meds for hours, then that gives both of you the opportunity to fix the issue right then and there. When the problem nurses realize how thorough you are, they're more likely to make an effort to not leave their patients in a mess for you to clean up.

As for report, do your best and move on. If they give you too much lip about it, say that the information they're inquiring about wasn't relevant to your shift. Invite them to look it up on the EMR.

[KeepinitrealCCRN]

i agree with a lot of the people who already posted. give a thorough report and go head to toe plus any plans for the pt in the coming days and critical labs/events that happened overnight. in my opinion report should be done at the bedside and it will help you not forget things. if they need specific information then they can look it up themselves and don't be afraid to tell them that especially for patients who have been there a long time.