Report (nursing)

In nursing, report is a meeting between nursing staff members at the change of shift in which information pertaining to patients is exchanged. Report is generally given by the nurses in charge of one shift to those coming on for the next, and in some facilities, nurse assistants participated in report, though the charge nurse is primarily responsible for making the report.

During report, the outgoing nurses discuss with the oncoming nurses the condition of each patient and any changes that have occurred to the patient during the shift. For nurses who regularly work with these patients, they can learn about any updates in the conditions of the patients. For nurses not normally assigned to the unit, they will learn about the patients on the unit. For all nurses, they will learn about any new patients who have recently been admitted to the unit.

Issues with report

While report is necessary in order to communicate important information between nurses, various problems are posed by the giving of report.

Often, nurses during this time, since they are busy with the reporting, are unable to attend to other duties. Though a nurse is required to do whatever is necessary in the event of an emergency, many nurses will often refuse to provide non-emergency assistance to patients at their requests during report time.

Nurses in many places are legally not permitted to leave the facility until they have given report. Walking off the job may be considered abandonment, which may be grounds for revocation of the nurse's license. At the same time, facilities are not legally required in all places to pay nurses for the extra time beyond their shift they are forced to stay over to complete report.

While privacy laws require report to be given in a location where patients, visitors, and non-nursing staff cannot hear the report, some facilities prohibit family members from visiting patients during report times.

ources

Foundations of Caregiving, published by the American Red Cross