what kind of information do you report to the next shift?

[Ms.RN]

what kind of things do you give report to an oncoming nurse? do you report on patients who have issues or change in conditions or do you give detailed informaiton about the patient?

i have nurses who wants to know everything from last blood sugars to how patient's incision looks like. i thought to myself "you can look up that information on your own and you need to find that information by assessing your own patients" i'm used to giving reports of any abnormals.

[evilolive, BSN, RN]

Things I note in report: Pts on Abx (and their temps), new orders, falls, skin tears/bruises (BIG lately in my facility), changes in mental status or baseline. All other pertinent information is right in the chart or med book. We have a facesheet for each pt. on the med book that lists how they take their meds (so helpful!). On the chart, a red sticker/name tag indicates a DNR, white sticker/name tag is a full code. All blood sugars are documented in the med book, although I will alert a nurse if a BS is low or high. Other than that, I try to think of anything abnormal or unusual and report it off to the day staff.

It also bothers me majorly to see only my notes listed for patients on Abx or 72 hrs post-fall - how am I supposed to know what's happening on the other shifts?!