I was working the second 8-hour shift of my double yesterday, and the second shift was on a different floor than my first was. I am a CNA. I received report from the outgoing CNA which was filled with "She is a nice lady" and "he is okay." (Not what I needed to know, but thank you). I find the supply room and all other rooms I will be needing, and start in on patient care for my section (was very heavy, 15 pts which most of were not independent).
As I'm coming down the hall, a nurse who I met briefly 20 minutes prior, asks me "Can I give you report?" In my mind my first reaction was "huh?" But of course I responded with a proper "Yes absolutely."
The nurse tells me which patients of mine are hers also, lays out their needs and all that needs to be done for them by me, important conditions and considerations, and exactly what she needed from me if out of the usual "routine."
This may sound strange to some of you that I've dedicated an entire post to something that only took this nurse
She was a seasoned nurse, very professional, serious yet kind, and a team player. I have had very great experiences with most of the nurses I have worked with, but none thus far have ever pulled me aside for a quick collaboration. I'm more used to getting called on my pager/phone throughout the day with piece by piece information or requests on patients. I understand nurses are very busy, I'm in nursing school and see more and more each day all of the things nurses need to do, to know, to see, to assess, to advocate for, to teach, to document, etc; But this really made for a smooth shift and facilitated great communication between the nurse and I.
Thank you for listening. (PS, I know if you're not a nurse yet your username is not supposed to contain nursing credentials in any fashion, but did not know this when I originally signed up and don't know how to change it).
I always communicated needs and expectations with the CNAs I was working with. I came up with a plan with the CNAs to get everything that needed done done, and planned to help with whatever I could that they needed help with. On the other hand, they were accountable for doing their part in a timely fashion so I was able to do tasks they couldn't in a timely fashion and be able to help turn and bathe when needed. I do it now with the unlicensed staff who help us in our procedure area (mostly our equipment techs).
I work in the OR now. The surgeons who are the best to work with will take a few minutes to chat with the staff they're working with about the plan and special needs (we have a few who will call on their way in if they're not at work already to make sure we're informed BEFORE we bring the patient back to the room). We also do this for all to-follow cases as well, just a few minutes to talk about needs for the next case. Makes ALL the difference in the world. Sometimes the attendings will call but not have a lot to say when they find they're working with staff who are experienced and they aren't planning to do anything different from normal. I love this because I legitimately hate running all over the place trying to scavenge for things my coworker didn't know they needed before they scrubbed in or things that the equipment techs are too busy to help with in that instant.
My nursing school puts a huge emphasis on hand-off reporting and we as students are expected to hand off to the nurse whenever we leave the unit and to get report from the nurse at the start of clinical in order to get us in the habit of getting report and giving a good report. At first, I thought report was so boring and unnecessary for me - after all, I knew everything about my one (!! ) patient I was assigned to since I'd had hours the day before to go through their chart and figure out what their deal was. Now that I work as an aide with a patient load of anywhere from 4-12 patients at a time depending on what floor I'm floating on, I've learned that report is so valuable for the short amount of time it takes. I don't have time to exhaustively review each patient's chart to figure out their needs - and neither does the nurse or aide who takes over for me at the end of my shift. Good report at the start of shift sets me and my patients up for a safe, smooth transition of care.
) patient I was assigned to since I'd had hours the day before to go through their chart and figure out what their deal was. Now that I work as an aide with a patient load of anywhere from 4-12 patients at a time depending on what floor I'm floating on, I've learned that report is so valuable for the short amount of time it takes. I don't have time to exhaustively review each patient's chart to figure out their needs - and neither does the nurse or aide who takes over for me at the end of my shift. Good report at the start of shift sets me and my patients up for a safe, smooth transition of care.
FurBabyMom, MSN, RN
1 Article; 814 Posts
I always communicated needs and expectations with the CNAs I was working with. I came up with a plan with the CNAs to get everything that needed done done, and planned to help with whatever I could that they needed help with. On the other hand, they were accountable for doing their part in a timely fashion so I was able to do tasks they couldn't in a timely fashion and be able to help turn and bathe when needed. I do it now with the unlicensed staff who help us in our procedure area (mostly our equipment techs).
I work in the OR now. The surgeons who are the best to work with will take a few minutes to chat with the staff they're working with about the plan and special needs (we have a few who will call on their way in if they're not at work already to make sure we're informed BEFORE we bring the patient back to the room). We also do this for all to-follow cases as well, just a few minutes to talk about needs for the next case. Makes ALL the difference in the world. Sometimes the attendings will call but not have a lot to say when they find they're working with staff who are experienced and they aren't planning to do anything different from normal. I love this because I legitimately hate running all over the place trying to scavenge for things my coworker didn't know they needed before they scrubbed in or things that the equipment techs are too busy to help with in that instant.