Shift Change Hand Offs

For report, I just follow my personal sheet. In the ICU, it's long and detailed, but this is how it usually goes...

Patient name, birthday

code status

allergies

attending docs

current hx (events during hospitalization)

past medical hx

neuro status

CV status

pulm status

GI/GU status

Lines in

skin status

family contacts

Any other thing pertinent to your shift (outputs, restraints, etc). This usually covers it all. Hope this helps!

Thank you for answering my post. I appreciate it.

-David H.

On our unit we use an SBAR form. It seems to unify what is to be covered in report. Someone told me a while ago that you are "telling the story" about the patient. Think of it as telling your friend about what happened today. However, the report needs to be organized in a logical manner (i.e. neuro, respiratory, cardiac, GI/GU, family, etc.) You'll get better at it the more you do it. Also, you'll notice when someone gives you a good report (take pointers from them) and a bad report (note what they did and DON'T repeat it).