Lack of communication in report!

I also love it when you are thorough but are giving report to someone who is so interested in everyone else's conversation that they don't hear a word you are saying!!!

I used to work with one nurse like this and one morning I told her that the patient had diamonds in his IV and was on a mink chuck. She wrote this down on her report sheet. So when I was finished giving report I said "what did I tell you his IV was?" and she looked at the words she had written and said diamonds. I said and you're ok with that and she said yes.

CAN YOU SAY SCARY??????

{{{{shaking my head}}}}

What I can't stand just as much is someone who gives me a bunch of useless information in report. For instance, someone telling me where a patient's fundus was....12 freaking hours ago! Hello, I'm gonna be checking her in a few minutes! Unless it was somewhere it shouldn't have been then don't even mention it.

We have one nurse that will tell us what someone's breath sounds were like 3 days ago. Who cares? Unless the pt was perfectly clear this morning and now is drowning in their own fluids, I don't care what they were 3 days ago! This nurse will also proceed to give you the whole life history on this pt-such as this 95 y/o woman had a c/s 60 years ago! Don't think that is relevant to her CHF, renal failure, old age problems today. I just need the pertinent info, thanks.

Originally posted by TennRN

What I can't stand just as much is someone who gives me a bunch of useless information in report. For instance, someone telling me where a patient's fundus was....12 freaking hours ago! Hello, I'm gonna be checking her in a few minutes! Unless it was somewhere it shouldn't have been then don't even mention it.

I hate that too. Long drawn out reports are a pet peeve of mine. I don't need to know what side her IV is on or about how long it took you to get her med from pharmacy or a bunch of other useless stuff. And then there's the flip side of that, those nurses who actually want to know all that stuff!

On the other side, as the nurse giving report to the next shift- I often feel so stressed, still torn in many directions, patients still in need, call lights going, families inturrupting because " all those nurses are JUST SITTING AND TALKING in the nurses station", ............that I feel my report is pretty lousy. I just can't think anymore!!!

Anyway, just my $0.02 about my report (sometimes).

guess it's time for a vacation.

There have been times I have felt info was withheld on purpose...a kind of passive aggressive game. Usually I ask the guilty party later "Did you forget to mention this patient was HIV and Hep C positive, or are you just an idiot??" I incident report these things, too, if I feel it necessary.....probably would write an incident report on the suicidal patient too. How negligent to not pass this type of info on to the next shift!!!!

Another pet peeve: GIVING report...to the younger inexperienced nurses who become impatient like 'Hurry up...this isn't important to me'...

Now..I give a thorough report...and also feel some obligation to TRY and teach some of the finer points of ICU patient management to our younger nurses...

Well, sweet young thang, if you deem this data to be 'unimportant', so be it...but let me fill you in here, because it's my job to do so.... I have documented I've given full report to YOU ...so it's now YOUR responsibility....so have fun with this little list of 'unimportant' things I just told you..(like trends to watch in labs or vitals, etc...where I left a note to 3 of the patient's docs....they will want to know this info but I didn't need to wake them up at 6 am....... AND by the way, you WILL double check these parameters....because I WILL ask you about it when I come back on duty tonight.

(I know, I know.....I'm a mean old nurse, aren't I???

Shame, Shame.....hehehe)

(Don't they teach nurses 'trends' in nursing school today...or is this just an older 'n dirt nurse thang...this watching of the trends????)

It really ticks me off when I give report and the person I am giving it to doesn't even bother to write anything down. Two of the nurses I work with almost never write anything down, and then they have the gall to wonder why this wasn't done, why I didn't tell them that or who is so and so. I have been called on the carpet about a patient's care and my notes saved my butt (chart was already gone).

If you think what I have to say is so unimportant then just tell me when you walk in so I can leave 30 minutes early grab a paper and beat the traffic home.:zzzzz

I hear ya, MamaVal!!

They roll their eyes at you...don't write down a thing...but they DO ask the MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF ALL:

Did you do their bath?

Originally posted by mattsmom81

I hear ya, MamaVal!!

They roll their eyes at you...don't write down a thing...but they DO ask the MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF ALL:

Did you do their bath?

You mean this isn't the most important thing?:roll

THANK YOU! I work ER now, but when I worked med/surg, those were my exact sentiments about report! There were those who had to know lab values for the pts entire stay, and then there were those who only wanted to know if the bath had been done! Also coming on shift, the report I got usually amounted to percentages of meals eaten!

Mattsmom81, it sounds like you are my kind of nurse. I would love to hear a report with "trends". Most times I get so much extraneous BS. :kiss