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The Objectives of a Bedside Report

Bedside reporting is the wave of the future in hospitals today. It is highly recommended by nursing experts as the best way to ensure a safe and effective hand off of information from one nurse to another. Some nurses find it difficult to adapt to this new change. Many want to stick with the old ways of doing things because it is how they have been doing it for years. Bedside reporting has many good points, though, that are often lost in the fight for control on the nursing unit. There are a few objectives to the report that nurses must keep in mind.

  1. Assess the Patient

    • Bedside reporting has as an advantage over other types of reporting because both shifts can check over the patient and verify that the assessment data is correct and up to date. Surgical incisions can be visualized and counted. IV bags and lines can be assessed. This is one of the primary objectives of bedside reporting. This style of hand off assures that the oncoming nurse is getting the most up-to-date information on the patient possible.

    Patient Safety

    • The bedside report assures that the patient is safe because the patient is visualized to be breathing and in a safe situation when the nurses meet to discuss the patient for report. Furthermore, the oncoming nurse is able to identify the patient via two identifying characteristics as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health care Organizations recommends; this ensures that the information is about the correct patient and it gives the nurse the opportunity to introduce herself to the patient.

    Patient-Focused Treatment

    • Bedside reporting helps include patients in their treatments. Since a patient is on hand for the report, he is able to listen in and make corrections to the information that the nurses are passing from one shift to the next. The patient is able to ask questions about anything he doesn't understand and become more involved in his care, enabling him to feel more satisfied that he is a working member of the team in his own health care. Bedside reporting gives patients the sense of autonomy and helps eliminate helplessness.

    Benefits to Nurses

    • Seeing all patients at the bedside at the start of the shift gives nurses the ability to prioritize the patients most needing her attention first. This helps to schedule her work flow better. It also helps to make the transitions between shifts easier because there is no resentment between shifts for bad reports. The reports are real-time, and there can be nothing left out. Nurses get to talk face to face with their co-workers, too, helping them to work together as a team to take care of patients the best they can.

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