white boards in patients room

[Shoiness]

]]Hi, I am in need of feedback from all my fellow medical peps in regards to white boards in hospital settings. Our new ACU/CCU departments will be completed soon and I would love to hear some comments on the white boards you use in your patients rooms...things you wish the boards had and things that are not utilized. We are a Critical Care Access Hospital and have been looking at the Chameleon, Magnetic Concepts and Visicare brands thus far. Any sugestions?? Thank-you kindly for your time.

S. Hoiness, RN

[inchii]

I wish the space for doctors' names is bigger in our unit's whiteboards, especially if there are more than 5 docs on the case. I do like that our new whiteboards has something like a glass cover on it. Our old whiteboards did go old over time, with the whiteboard film peeling off after years of use.

[LynM75]

So I find that I need more space for plan of care, specifically...ivf, iv abx, pain meds, PT etc. I feel I need to write for the layperson, so it is not as easy to abbreviate. Also there is only one space for pain meds as well, not easy when there are multiple meds.

[RN403, BSN, RN]

I wish they were a little bit bigger. It feels like you have to squeeze everything in when you have multiple things to write in.

[firstinfamily, RN]

At my new job the white boards are 4'x6' and have divided areas, one board for each pt, so two in a semi-private room. They seem to have room for all the pertinent information and the patients and their families really like them. The unit manger told me they implemented these so the families would be able to keep up better with what was going on with the patients. The patients like them because they can look at a central location and see what is planned for the day for tests, PT etc. I thought they were great!!!

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

The only thing we write on our white boards is our name (name of nurse caring for patient) and the date. Personally, I like to write other pertinent things on it, too, but someone always comes in and erases it.

[Karou]

Our white boards are large, double sided templates with Spanish on the back to flip over if needed. They clip into place with a clear plastic sheet cover for us to write on.

We write the date. Room number and telephone are already on there (the template) which is nice. Nurse name, pct, charge nurse, and physician spaces as well as "other" care providers. I like this because patients need to know each doctors name... It can be a lot! Need a bigger space for that.

We have a space for "goals" where I usually write the POC. Then there is a large "others" section. Some use that for important family phone numbers, pain medication available times, ect...

Ours also come with a faces pain scale and a few other things that I can't remember.

[TheNurseyNurse]

Visicare is good.

[amoLucia]

With all these white boards in pt rooms (particularly semi-pvt ones) how is confidentiality maintained? If a pt's physician, Dr. FamousCancerOncologist is written, wouldn't that be a BIG CUE to what the pt's dx may be???

I really can't see much else, other than pt name & nurse, being written without giving too much possibility for divulging sensitive info.

[Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN]

I hate the darn things. Even when I have been a pt

I did not like them

[Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN]

We had custom white boards made recently. The one thing I don't like about them is they have some things pre written on them like the food service number, room number and direct telephone number to the room. These are way too tiny. I would suggest if you have things like this on the board that they be LARGE. We have to rewrite this info large, because most patients cannot see them. The other information included is the nurse name, CNA name, patient name and date all at the top. Besides the daily plan, the most helpful items are activity and diet. When answering a call light of a patient that is not mine, I really appreciate being able to glance at the board and know how the person transfers. There is also a place for family contact information.

[Shoiness]

great info thanks! Everyone has good Idea and I even 'get' the HIPPA factor. plus anyone who puts MY weight on a white board might be cleaning up ice water. LOL

I so agree about a large board 24" X 36" or 36" x 48"??? we also need a place for Rounding.. I have seen the clock diagram and the square boxes ...what has worked best for you?

again I greatly appreciate your input.