PACU to Unit bedside report.

When I worked PACU we were required to accompany all patients to the floor and unit and give a bedside report. If it was a returning patient and the floor/unit already knew them then we could give a phone report but still had to accompany them to their room or have another RN do it. My take on it is that it was all very time consuming( waiting on transport, waiting on the nurse to be available when you got there since even though we called to tell them we were coming they were often too busy to take report when we got there, ect). Although I did like the fact that I could see for myself the person was alert, stable, ect when I left and face to face report is often more complete which seemed better for the patient. Just my take on it.

I am not a PACU/Recovery RN, but we do get report from the PACU nurses when they bring the pt back to the floor. They accompany the pt from PACU and give bedside report. I have rarely had report given to me over the phone but this has only been done when an emergency was coming in to the OR and could not be transported via an ACLS RN. When this was the case, an ACLS transporter accompanied the pt.

Our PACU gives a report over the phone and then RN accompanies the pt to the unit and we can ask further questions if needed at bedside. If the pt comes direct from the OR and wasn't recovered because they are coming back to the unit, Anesthesia gives bedside report.