Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay

Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay

Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay
Bedside nursing care
My personal research interest is the use of bedside nursing care as standard practice for change of shift reporting to address sentinel events in the adult inpatient setting in neurosurgery unit. Traditionally, change of shift reporting has been conducted in the nurses’ station when all nurses leave the inpatients unattended to discuss the shift events. However, this practice has been faulted for creating opportunities for sentinel events as concerns quality of care and patients’ safety when the patients are left unattended. The concern about the quality of care and patients’ safety is heightened by the fact that discussing all the patients’ cases takes much time. In fact, it is not uncommon for change of shift reporting in the nurses’ station to take an hour or more (Ofori-Atta, Binienda & Chalupka, 2019). Ofori-Atta, Binienda and Chalupka (2019) place the issue into perspective, showing that approximately 330,000 patients’ in the USA suffer from a preventable harm every year with the harm causing sentinel event when they are left unattended contributing to their death. Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay. These statistics are significant when it is considered that thousands of inpatients receive daily care across the nation and they experience shift changes during their stay. If left unattended, the patients have a higher probability of experiencing a preventable error that does not necessarily result in death but could cause an injury to the patient and costly to address (Ofori-Atta, Binienda & Chalupka, 2019). As a result, change of shift reporting in nurses’ station presents opportunities for sentinel events when inpatients’ are left unattended.
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Given the concerns about change of shift reporting in nurses’ station, the proposal is made for bedside shift reporting to be adopted as standard practice in adult inpatient setting in neurosurgery unit. The change is anticipated to create a patient-centered care approach that improve the quality of care and patient safety. In this case, bedside shift reporting would entail the on-coming and off-going nurses discussing the case details at the side of each patient at the end of the shift. For that matter, the patient and family members are included in the reporting process with the opportunity to make direct inputs even as they are observed and not left unattended for long periods of time (Baldwin & Spears, 2019). In essence, the proposed approach creates an environment in which nurses, clinicians, patients and families work together to improve care safety and quality in neurosurgery units. Through including patients in discussions about their health status and ensuring that they are not left unattended for long, the proposed change ensures that patients do not worry about their safety when making hospitalization decisions. Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay. Still, it is important to note that even with the proposed change being implemented, opportunities for sentinel events are not totally eliminated from the neurosurgery unit. That is because human element, organizational process flaws and other healthcare aspects create the potential for errors. However, as a stopgap, the proposed solution makes credible effort in ensuring patient safety and improving care quality in neurosurgery units (Dorvil, 2018).
Care transitions at shift change in neurosurgery units create the potential for care errors. Bedside shift reporting can reduce the risk of these errors occurring through offering a three-way verification system that lets the off-going nurse, on-coming nurse and patient/family to verify the care approach. The nurses can also take the opportunity to assess the case, check for adverse events (such as pressure ulcers), and observe the patient’s general appearance. Also, the patient and family members can take the opportunity to ask questions about his/her health status, and set both short-term and long-term objectives with the nurses. Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay. Through this approach to shift reporting, communication is improved and nurse accountability is ensured in neurosurgery units (Kerr, Lu & McKinlay, 2014). Besides that, nursing personnel are primary care givers and the first line of defense when addressing care quality and patient safety. Bedside shift reporting ensures that the value of nurses as the first line of defense can be leveraged as an integral part of the care plan. This particularly takes advantage of the fact that nurses are accountable for communication that occurs at shift change, such that communicating at the bedside allows the nurse to verify information about prescribed medication, plan of care, physical assessment findings, and health history. Also, it helps in building partnerships between the patients and nurses, with nurses becoming more aware of nursing care issues thus enabling them to plan and prioritize their efforts (Vines et al., 2014).
It is clear that bedside shift reporting in neurosurgery units offers some unique advantages that include saving time, streamlining pertinent information, and improving nurse efficiency. In addition, it ensures accountability and improves nurses’ teamwork through opportunities for working together. Besides that, it standardizes shift reporting format thus reducing incidences of miscommunication. With improved communication, on-coming nurses can prioritize their efforts based on need. Patients similarly benefit by learning about care plan and objectives, getting reassurance, reducing anxiety, and improving satisfaction (Ofori-Atta, Binienda & Chalupka, 2019). Still, bedside shift reporting raises some concerns. Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay. First, presence of third parties in the room can hinder communication efforts. Secondly, disclosing new information that has not been discussed with the patient could be detrimental. Thirdly, it could interfere with the patients’ sleep patterns. Fourthly, it limits the contribution of patients with sensory and cognitive limitations. Fifthly, it increases reporting time when lengthy clarifications are required. Finally, there is a lack of privacy thus leading to potential violations of HIPAA. Despite the limitations, the rewards from bedside shift reporting is an opportunity for meaningful change in inpatient care for neurosurgery units (Ofori-Atta, Binienda & Chalupka, 2019).
 
 
References
Baldwin, K. & Spears, M. (2019). Improving the patient experience and decreasing patient anxiety with nursing bedside report. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 33(2), 82-89.
Dorvil, B. (2018). The secrets to successful nurse bedside shift report implementation and sustainability. Nursing Management, 49(6), 20-25.
Kerr, D., Lu, S. & McKinlay, L. (2014). Towards patient-centred care: perspectives of nurses and midwives regarding shift-to-shift bedside handover. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 20(3), 250-257. Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay.
Ofori-Atta, J., Binienda, M. & Chalupka, S. (2019). Bedside shift report: implications for patient safety and quality of care. Nursing, 45(8), 1-4.
Vines, M., Dupler, A., Van Son, C. & Guido, G. (2014). Improving client and nurse satisfaction through the utilization of bedside report. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 30(4), 166-173. Bedside shift reporting nursing care Essay.