MICU Report/Brain sheets

[GabbyMICURN]

Hi all,

I just joined the MICU and was wondering if anyone would share their nursing report sheets/brain sheets to help me get and stay organized during my shift?

Thanks!

[emmjayy, BSN, RN]

I don't know how to upload my sheet, but I like to know drips, lines, drains, vent settings, diet (usually a tube feed), skin issues, Tmax, blood sugar frequency, rhythm, lung sounds for previous nurse, last neuro assessment findings of previous nurse, and a space for ALL the labs (ABG's, CBC, CMP, ICA, coags, and other randoms like lactic acid, troponins, pro-BNP, etc.) - and multiple columns so I can trend the labs on my sheet instead of having to log in to the computer and look back to trend them. I keep the back blank to write down the patient's PMH/HPI/24 hr events, and imaging (date, type of imaging, results). I usually just write all this stuff down at the start of the shift and then never refer to it again but it does help cement it in my brain and gives me a starting point for when I report to the next shift (e.g., at the start of my shift the patient was on 50 of propofol and 15 of levophed, I got the prop down to 10 and the levo is now off).

It's really a matter of what works for you though. If you are coming from med-surg, you probably already have a system that works that will just need a bit of tweaking. At the beginning you will be very dependent on your report sheet though and may even want to have one with boxes for each hour so you can annotate meds that are due, labs that need to be drawn, things that need to be assessed, etc. I also used an hourly box method to write down hourly I&O's/temps/blood sugars/etc. when I didn't have time to log in and chart them in the moment.

[Apple-Core, ASN, BSN, RN]

Just google "free nursing brain sheets" and print one off~