Effective Communication Is Crucial Aspect Of Nursing Essay
1893 WordsNov 21, 20168 Pages
Effective communication is crucial aspect of nursing yet too often is placed low on the priority list, especially at shift change. Information related to the care of patients is frequently disseminated at a crowded, noisy nurse station with several nurses rushing to leave and others attempting to get the information necessary to plan care and limit the constant distractions. It is this interaction that allows for information vital patient safety information to be communicated including the acuity of patients. 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. Typically, the brief report from the off going nurse includes a summary of the client’s current