Pros And Cons Of Bedside Report

In the field of nursing, report given at the change of shift is the foundation of knowledge needed for the day’s work. The information obtained during report allows the nurses to have background of the patient’s history, current condition, plan of care, and any information crucial to care provided. There are multiple ways to obtain a report at change of shift including: group report reviewing all patients, report obtained outside patients’ rooms from previous nurse, and bedside report. Bedside reporting is a controversial topic in the world of nursing. As with any topic, there are pros and cons. Bedside reporting is linked to better communication, patient satisfaction, quality of care, safety, and knowledge of patient’s condition (Sand-Jecklin
et al., p. 2855-2856). However, some nurses believe that bedside reporting is time consuming, and some patient’s find that it is difficult to understand medical terminology (Sand-Jecklin et al., p. 2856). Although there are mixed feelings about the implementation of bedside reporting, what matters is the patient and the care they are receiving. Patients need to feel that the care they are receiving is helping towards their goal of recovery and nurses are obtaining a go rapport with other nursing staff and other medical staff involved in care. Bedside reporting could be the basis for improving patient outcomes, communication, and care patients receive. Implementing bedside reporting could tremendously change quality of care in patients. Using the four articles we selected, we strive to answer this question, “in hospitalized adult patients, how does bedside reporting compare to non-bedside reporting effect the patient’s quality of care?”