What's your spiel?

You have to be confident. Fake it till you make it.

This is the first time, first chance to built a trusting relationship with your patient.

What I do is introduced myself. Ask them what their plan is, what they'll like to do and then I tell them what the plan is for today, if it's getting them to chair, starting them on a diet or plain as washing their face. It tells them that you are on top of their care and also that you are there to have their best interest at heart.

My organization adopted the AIDET process (developed by Studer) & it works very well. Here's a link (from another organization) with a very nice overview. (AIDET: Five Steps to Achieving Satisfaction - The Sharp Experience) In routine patient care situations, we emphasize the "I" and "E"... patients want to know not only who you are, but what makes you qualified to provide their care and what you are planning on doing to/with them. It may seem awkward at first, but our patient feedback indicates that they like it a lot.

I work 7p-7a on ortho, so usually after introducing myself, I ask how their day has been, PT sessions etc. It gives me an idea of how they are feeling in general about their progression & keeps things more conversational. Then I go right onto pain control, offer meds if appropriate, & do my assessment.

Over the years, my spiel has changed with the situations.....talk one way to this group, that way to that one.... patients in Situation Z get Spiel Z, those in Situation X get Spiel X :)

You'll find your mojo and go with it

For the very basic introduction off-going to on-coming nurse, I usually say "Hi, my name is Delicate Flower, I am going to be your night nurse tonight. How are you feeling? (wait for response) Is there anything we can do for you or get for you right now? (wait for response). OK, I will be back shortly to check on you, and we can talk about our schedule for the night and answer any questions you might have."

"Hi my name is Blondy and I'm your nurse until 7pm tonight. How are you feeling today? How was your night? What are your pain and nausea levels like? Now, if it's okay with you, I'd like to do a quick assessment."

Then I do my assessment. After that:

"Have you had breakfast yet? Are you going to try and eat this morning? I'll be back in about a half hour with your medications. Do you need anything before I go? Please use your call light if you need me before then!"

Introduce yourself with confidence and explain that the previous nurse is going home and you are taking over until 7am. It sounds silly but some patients don't realise your taking over, some think that the day nurse is just on break or something.

Update the board if you've got one and just start chatting. The good thing about night shift is that you can talk about the day they had, that visitor that surprised them, that lunch they had that was really nice..

As opposed to day shift who can say "how did you sleep? Oh you didn't... :/"

let them know the plan for the night, when you'll be waking them up for assessments/vitals can prevent a lot of confused angry patients who get shocked when your waking them up at the early hours of the morning.

It can be awkward, particularly on ortho because the turn over can be so high so it's can almost feel like speed dating every shift.

Good luck

Everyone is giving great advice! :)

I work in a children's hospital... so things are a bit different. I have to adapt to include an entire family!

I always introduce myself, ask how their day has gone..... talk a little bit (great time to do your neuro checks, hee hee), then go ahead and do my assessment while keeping everything conversational.

On my way out I make sure they know how to get in touch with me (call bell, ascom, etc) and let them know my plan of care for the night. How often I will be in and out, what I will be doing, what meds are due when, etc. Lay it all out there. I also make sure they know they need to CALL ME for pain, emergencies, etc. DO NOT HESITATE! It's what I'm there for. :) I work night shift, and I think sometimes people really believe I am off in a bunk sleeping somewhere and they will just sit and suffer until I come back in. Do not wait two hours for pain medication. CALL ME!!!! :)

We use bedside report and AIDET, so basically, I introduce the oncoming nurse with "this is Nurse A, she will be your nurse today until 7pm. She will take very good care of you. We are going to do bedside report now, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to speak up'

As I am leaving, I will tell the patients, "I'll be back within the hour to get your vitals. Here is your call light, etc"

As I am leaving, I will tell the patients, "I'll be back within the hour to get your vitals. Here is your call light, etc"

And 90 seconds later they use the call light... #nursinglife

When I was still doing bedside nursing, it'd go something like this:

OHH, look at the pretty little baaaaaaaaaby. Remember, I only allow one poopy diaper per shift! NO TALKING BACK! Oh, snap...that's right...you can't talk, can you? Yay, that makes me a happy nurse! Now, let me see...how's that tummy? No firmness or distention, right? OH MAN, who kicked this IV out?! I warned you yesterday...now I have no choice but to poke you again...don't blame me...not MY fault...I didn't kick it out! Where's your mama...I smell something that I probably don't want to see. Do you hear that baby over there in the next bed, crying and creating chaos? That is exactly the behavior you do NOT want to imitate. Isn't that noise annoying? I KNOW, I don't like it either. AWW MAN, did you just spit up on my clean scrubs?? Hey, STOP PULLING MY BEARD!!

Man, I miss it.