Bedside Reporting

Our last study is by Olson-sitki, Weitzel, and Glisson (2013), that performs a case study that discusses the transitions and outcomes from recorded reporting to bedside reporting using a defined process. A strength of this study is that it is a case study. This means that they performed the study themselves and are not relying on information obtained from other studies they did not conduct themselves (Olson-Sitki, Weitzel, & Glisson, 2013, p.25). Another strength of this article was that there was a video designed to demonstrate how bedside report should be performed, written guidelines given to nurses, and a to-do list informing nurses on what needs to be included

In every profession there are changes that propel how tasks are done; nursing is no stranger to this. One of the biggest changes that have come into nursing’s daily events is how report hand-offs are being done. Gone are the days of taped report that each off going nurse must tape about each patient and the oncoming nurse must listen to. Nurses are now being encouraged to move their report to the bedside, in front of the patient (Trossman, 2007). It is very important to know how this can affect the patient and even the nurse’s schedule. With every change, there are positives and negatives that can finalize the decision to keep or forego

Bedside reporting has the primary function of sharing patient information between nurses, as they change shifts. The nurse ending their shift would report all the changes that have occurred in the state of the patient and all measures which have been taken for the respective patient. This information would be transmitted to the nurse commencing her shift, who would then write and further transmit all patient information occurring during their shift, to the nurse coming to replace them.

The hand over process of communication between nurses to nurses is done with the intention of transferring essential information for safe, and patient centered care. Traditionally, this shift report has been done away from the patient’s bedside, at the nurse’s station, or other place like staff’s room. In addition, the shift report used to be delivered through audio recording of the patient’s information. These reporting mechanisms did not include face-to-face reporting of the patient information, nor involvement of patient. Therefore, information regarding the patient’s care was not shared with the patient, leaving them out of his/her own care plan. Recent studies and development of Patient Centered Care Philosophy have challenged this belief of giving a report away from the patient. Tan (2015) said, “Shift report must not only be restricted in nurse to nurse communication, but it must involve patients as the recipients of care” (p. 1). Incorporating the patient into the end of shift report is essential for providing patient centered care and patient satisfaction. Nurses at the St Jude Medical center in the acute in-patient rehabilitation unit are not exceptional. Most of the end of the shift report between nurses are still done away from the patient. Aim of this paper is to make a change in the work place, which is the process of giving end of shift report at the bedside incorporating patient and families in the acute in-patient rehabilitation unit at St Jude Medical

Currently at the hospital I work in does not require bedside reporting in high acuity areas such as the emergency department. The current practice is to first identify the nurse for the assignment you are relieving, which often times can be multiple nurses. This often leads to very brief exchange of patient information so that each nurse can get to the next person and start care or leave for the day. Due to the nature of an emergency department, patient population is extremely diverse yielding reports regarding patients of different ages, diagnoses, and acuity. Couple the diverse nature of clients with the brief interactions between nurses to communicate what is presumed important regarding patient care while attempting to maintain privacy all with the distractions of a busy nursing station and it is likely some piece of information may be missed or overlooked.

Traditionally, nursing shift-to-shift reports were organized methods of communication between only the oncoming and leaving nurse, designated to a location such as the central nursing station or nook of a hallway. Shift reports can be considered the foundation of how the day is going to plan out because it introduces the patient, diagnoses, complications, medications, consults, upcoming test and the entire plan of care. These reports are full of complicated and vital information and while set in certain locations that are vulnerable to interruptions, such as the nursing station, medical errors and miscommunication are more likely to be made. The Joint Commission’s 2009 and 2010 National Patient Safety Goals (Joint Commission, 2015) included two patient safety standards, first to encourage patients to be involved in their health care plan and second, to implement a standardized communication process for handoff reports between providers. Soon after in 2013, The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality under the United States Department of Health and Human Services introduced a set of strategies to improve patient engagement along with safety and quality in patient care. Within these strategies the new method of nurse bedside shift report was developed, which suggests nurses to conduct shift-to-shift reports at bedside in the room of each patient, rather than out of the room. The benefits of this new method were

Traditionally nurses delivered clinical information about the patient, the clinical events on their shift and the plan of care to the oncoming shift to ensure continuity of care and to make sure that their colleagues were informed about tasks or instructions that needed to be completed by the next shift. This process had a variety of names; report, handover or handoff. The format was often different from unit to unit. It usually took place in an off stage room or office or at a charting station from away from the

Bedside reporting involves giving information or a report to the oncoming nurse in the presence of a patient. This method gives the patient an opportunity to ask questions and get clarification regarding his or her care. Bedside reporting increases patient satisfaction, quality of healthcare and nurse-to-nurse responsibility. Hospitals need to design a better handoff process that can easily reduce patient risks and increase patients’ involvement in their care. Emergency rooms shift reports usually take place at the nursing station of every patient care area. The departing nurse gives information verbally to the oncoming shift. Therefore,

As it is report is given at the nurses station, conference room, or hallway. These reports are given face to face with the receiving and exiting nurse, sometimes report is given over audio-tape or is written out for the oncoming nurse to read.

Communication between nurses at report change is essential. The next nurse needs the most important information whether it is as Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) that the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (n.d.) outlines to use or in another form. The case of Rio Grande Regional Hospital Inc v. Villarreal discusses how one nurse breached the standard of care because the record reflects that from the time Hermes was given the double-edged razor until he died neither Nurse Bergado nor any other nurse checked to see how Hermes was doing in the bathroom” (Find Law for Legal Professionals, 2016). At Baylor Scott & White at All Saints, we have a policy that each patient is rounded on physically every hour.

Bedside reporting by nurses is currently estimated at 30 per cent and the scope is that of increasing it to a maximum 100 per cent. Currently, the primary resistance to this process of bedside reporting improvement is posed by the nurses, which believe that the process is a waste of time, as well as an indiscretion.

This is a review of a paper by Sand-Jecklin and Sherman(2014), which uses a quantitative method to compare traditional recorded nursing reports with an approach that uses a combination of recorded and bedside nursing reports.. The paper attempts to provide a quantitative answer to the questions whether bedside nursing reports make a significance difference compared to the traditional practice of recorded

Verbal communication between the nurses during shift change or simply writing a progress report on the status of the patient does not cater to the needs of the patient, it is a mere communication method that is unreliable and nurse perception of the written report are often molded with bias and does not wholly represent the patient’s holistic health care needs. As dictated by Caruso (2007), “Change of shift signifies a time of carful communication in order to promote patient safety and best practices... [the risk exists of] relaying important information becomes muddled by irrelevant information instead...” (p.17). In essence, implementation of bedside nurse shift report/handover deems to provide the most opportune outcomes and focuses on patient-centered

Evidence based practice has shown bedside reporting has enhanced nursing and patient satisfaction while allowing more direct time with patients. It has also helped reduce report time, increase patient satisfaction and allowed nurses to build trust with patients while involving them in their care.

The bedside shift-to-shift communication in relation to the CNO/RNAO did not address our research question directly but it can be related to the accountability CNO professional standard, “providing, facilitating and promoting the best possible care for client” (CNO, p. 4). The nurse is responsible to hand off his/her patient to the next nurse appropriately and the incoming nurse is accountable to learn as much as many information she/he can get from the previous nurse before providing care to the patient to promote pt. safety and enhance his or her care. I’m currently at North York Gen. hospital and we’ve learned that bedside-shift communication is in their policy, as a matter of fact they have four ways of pt. transferring; written, electronic,