Bedside Reporting is a Key to Communication

Every day in hospitals across the United States, safety errors occur due to lack of communication between healthcare providers. The Joint Commission has estimated Hospitals across the nation that “80% of serious medical errors involve miscommunication between caregivers during the transfer of patients”. Additionally, per Becker’s Hospital Review, one-third of malpractice cases involving nursing cite a breakdown in communication. Many hospitals across the country have set the standard that bedside reporting is to be conducted at the change of each shift, yet shift-change report is often not executed at the bedside for various reasons. Nurses often cite bedside reporting is time consuming between patient interruptions and various nurses giving and/or receiving report; however, research shows bedside reporting increases patient satisfaction, patient safety and nurse satisfaction.

Author(s):

Abigail Mitchell, Katy Gudeczauskas, Alyssa Therrien and Alisha Zauher

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