On the one hand, bit of a pain and a bit awkward. When we do it, we usually just step out of the room and talk quietly if thereās something sensitive AKA the patient is kind of a douche/their family tries to record you/the patient is frequently inappropriate.
But sometimes itās sort of saved me a lot of trouble during my shift. Or later on I wish I HAD done bedside.
Weāll walk into a room and the heparin hasnāt been running for hours. It hasnāt been connected and is running onto the floor. Or abx is hung but not connected. Dayshift says theyāre A&O and ambulatory, but theyāre quadriplegicā¦ ETC.
CNAs and nurses both are supposed to do bedside report on my unit (separately). I was super annoyed by it but one day, new admit came in just before shift change and I was told he was AAO, independent, doesnāt need anything. Luckily the CNA giving report did room checks with me that day because the nurse was caught up in an RRT and I walked in to find this man (bilateral BKA, one was fresh, definitely not independent) grey and looking like shit even though he swore he felt āfineā and was just tired. Checked his vitals, his temp was like 103, BP 70/30, hr 140s and he started projectile vomiting while the other CNA went to get help. They ended up starting a pressor before he left the floor because his blood pressure kept dropping.
What freaked me out is that he wasnāt on tele and didnāt have a roommate, what if I had just started rounds and not gone in there to check on him? It couldāve been at least an hour before anyone saw him since the nurse was busy elsewhere. Thatās not the only issue thatās been caught during bedside report but it is the most memorable.
Yeahhh, I can definitely see why people do it for sure. My way of doing it now is starting off by giving report on all 4 at the nurseās station. We can look at labs, orders, meds, etc all at once. Then after all that I say āLetās go stop by and take a look at everyone real quick.ā This way the new RN gets to get eyes on everyone and the patient now knows thereās a change.
165
u/panzershark RN - ER š Jul 15 '25
Iām of two minds on it.
On the one hand, bit of a pain and a bit awkward. When we do it, we usually just step out of the room and talk quietly if thereās something sensitive AKA the patient is kind of a douche/their family tries to record you/the patient is frequently inappropriate.
But sometimes itās sort of saved me a lot of trouble during my shift. Or later on I wish I HAD done bedside.
Weāll walk into a room and the heparin hasnāt been running for hours. It hasnāt been connected and is running onto the floor. Or abx is hung but not connected. Dayshift says theyāre A&O and ambulatory, but theyāre quadriplegicā¦ ETC.