Change Paper Bedside Shift Report

University of South Carolina - Upstate

Bedside Shift Report
Miscommunication and missed information, resulting in potential errors, have been on the rise at Pelham Medical Center. In the past, the primary nursing staff was giving verbal report to oncoming nurses at the nursing stations. There are many disadvantages to this practice. Verbal report at the nursing station is distracting with so many nurses talking at the same time and is frequently interrupted by other staff, call bells, and family members. There are also potential HIPPA violations when reporting on patients within earshot of other people who are not involved in that patient’s care. The patients and their family members or care givers are not directly involved in the report and hand off process (Gregory, Tan, Tilrico, Edwardson, & Gamm, 2014). Pertinent information was being reported incorrectly or not reported at all. Physician orders were being missed and not completed. All of these events, collectively, have adversely affected patient safety and overall patient satisfaction. Patients and their families do not like to feel that the primary nurse does not know the “whole picture” or has an incorrect understanding of the plan of care. In an effort to reduce potential errors, increase communication between staff and with patients and their care givers, and increase patient and nursing satisfaction, the nursing administration of Pelham Medical Center decided to implement bedside shift report on the medical-surgical unit. This change has been implemented and is mandatory practice, barring exceptional circumstances.
Kurt Lewin developed a classic change theory that is appropriate for implementing this change at Pelham Medical Center. The phases used in Lewin’s theory are unfreezing, moving and refreezing (Kearney-Nunnery, 2012). During the