Transfering Information In The Healthcare Setting

Communication involves information being sent, received and decoded between two or more people (Balzer-Riley 2008) and involves the use of a number of communication skills; which in a nursing context generally focuses on listening and giving information to patients (Weller 2002). This process of sending and receiving messages has been described as both simple and complex (Rosengren 2000 in McCabe 2006, p.4). It is a process which is continually utilised by nurses to convey and receive information from the patient, co-workers, others they come into contact with and the patient’s family.

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.

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.

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

Cinahl Information Systems (2012) state communication patterns between patient care providers can fluctuate depending upon gender, cultural background, education level, stress, environmental disruptions, and individual communication styles. Using a standardized communication tool such as the SBAR technique, eliminates communication failure due to the diversity of communication patterns of patient care providers. SBAR allows communication to become precise, consistent, and simplistic.

When a new resident is admitted, then they need to have a new care plan. The care plan will show all the medication that they are currently on. If they have any allergies to anything. All personal clothing and possessions are listed. We list how much money they have, if it is over £20.00 then we take it to the office for safety reasons. Where it is documenated for the resident.

Staff reacted quickly and appropriately and when safe transferred the patient into the resuscitation area. I witnessed good communication between staff with the use of SBAR, giving structure to the information being provided by ambulance staff and by nurses to medical staff. Communication between staff and the patient promoted a good therapeutic relationship. Communication is vital in the nurse patient relationship to build trust and gain information (Webb, 2011).

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,

Communication is any form of expressing and receiving of messages between individuals. The importance of Communication in the nursing profession is to maintain high quality care for the patient but also maintain effective collaboration between professionals. Boykins, D (2014) states that the “registered nurse is expected to communicate in various formats and in all areas of practice”. Various formats include speaking to patients and coworkers as well as utilizing appropriate protocols and systems to effectively communicate regards to patient’s status.

Centervale County is a County that is located in the State of New York. It covers 550 square miles consisting of 50 municipalities. It has a population of 962,758 million, which is estimated to increase by 2.1% by 2015. The county’s location places New York City to the south at approximately 35 minutes from the county seat of Centervale City. According to the 2011 US Census Bureau data, the per-capita income in the county was $47,903 and the medium income for a household in the county was $75,005. In terms of household income, Centervale County is the 8 wealthiest county in New York and the 52 wealthiest county nationally.

The efficiency of the team model is dependent on effective communication. Poor communication among the team members can place both team members and patients at risk. In addition, the doctors or other health providers may prefer to communicate with the charge nurse, which can lead to a breakdown of communication and subsequently influence patient care. To ensure open and effective communication, phones will be provided to staff for communication among and between team members and charge nurse. Non-urgent patient communication will be written on a team specific communication board.

I would like to thank you and your staff for a great experience. The lessons I learned have taught me so much about this field and I now know that I should not limit myself just to coding and that there are many opportunities in other areas.

Ninety two year old Samuel Rados was on dialysis, two knee replacements and two stunts. His wife carries a briefcase detailing all his procedures and medications with her at all times. While undergoing a MRI scan he suddenly developed arrhythmia but fortunately revived with emergency care. Mr. Rados had a pacemaker implanted which was missing in his medical docu-mentation. Had Mr. Rados’s nephrologist had access to his medical records from all of his spe-cialists, this potentially fatal mistake could have been avoided. These two examples of potentially serious medical oversights could have been prevented with the use of interoperable electronic medical information. From a macro-economic perspective, over the last century a number of new technologies and innovations have yielded a dramatic change in the way health care is delivered to the end users. Information and communication technologies have become the catalyst in providing efficient and effective delivery of health care services. Currently americans spend more resources on health care than any other industrialized nation. In the past few decades, while every sector of the American economy has embraced computer and information technology to increase productiv-ity and reduce costs, the health care system has failed to remedy this lingering frailty. At the mo-ment while most current computer systems are being mainly used for managerial and accounting purposes, there should be a growing effort to make a design for usable

The SBAR stands for situation, background, assessment and recommendation. It is specifically suggested that nurses communicate with physicians about a patient’s condition using the SBAR format. Communication is needed between the nurse and physician in order to do what’s best for the patient. Also the SBAR format can be used as a hand-off tool during transfer of care from one person to another.