[bilidkid]

Hi, can anybody advise on the systematic way of endorsing your patients to the incoming nurse? My endorsements always has been topsy turvy, always forgets something. Thanks.

[cougarnurse]

How about using the patient roster or room by room? You can go patient by patient, noting any changes, problems, abnormal labs/BGM's, PRN's, etc. If nothing really 'out of the ordinary' happened, you can state that. Of course, I work LTC, and that seems to work for me quite well.

[stillearning]

By this question, do you mean INTRODUCING your patients to the next nurse -- as in sharing information at the Change-of-shift Report?

If so, you may want to consider a tool from the quality improvement literature, embraced by many healthcare facilities across the U.S.A. -- the tool is called by its acronym: S.B.A.R -- & pronounced S-bar.

Here is a website you may find useful:
http://www.saferhealthcare.com/sbar.html

Begun as a tool that nurses might use to pull together all the essential information that they must have "at the ready" when contacting a physician about a patient's change of condition, the tool has proved to have MANY uses in healthcare.

We have started to S-bar our shift reports and find that while the tool takes a little getting used to, it does keep the nurses focused and prevents us from talking about how much the patient ate today and focusing on the nutritional goals instead. Reports are much more succinct and goal-directed.

I trust you'll find this information useful.

--p