Tips on Giving & Receiving Shift Report as a Nursing Student and Nurse

When I was in my last semester of nursing school I had to complete a Senior Practicum. The practicum required me to complete 240 hours of clinical time with a registered nurse in a hospital setting.

I was assigned to work on a PCU (progressive care unit) that specialized in cardiac nursing. I loved my practicum so much I stayed on with that unit after graduation....but that is for another post.

During my Senior Practicum I worked 12 hours shifts with my assigned preceptor. I learned so much about how to be a nurse during that clinical time. One important thing I learned was how to give and receive shift report.....the important things like what to say and what not to say during shift report.

It is so important to always give and receive a good shift report. Getting a "lousy" shift can effect your day. For example, depending on the nurse you are getting report from you may get a great detail report (which helps start your day off right) or a "crappy" report that leaves you blind and you find out through out the day your patient had to be NPO (nothing by mouth) for a surgery later that day.

I remember that a girl I worked with got a really bad shift report from another nurse. The nurse she got report from was notorious for giving 1 minute reports on their patients. However, my friend was new and she was unaware of this. So at 12:00 pm the OR called my friend and asked if her patient was ready and prepped for her lobectomy (removal of a lung....patient had lung cancer) because the surgeon was ready to operate.

My friend who was unaware of this had let her patient eat breakfast and lunch. After she got off the phone, the surgeon called my friend and pretty much "chewed" her out and reported her to our nurse manager. However, all of this could have been avoided if the previous nurse had reported that the patient was going for possible surgery later that afternoon.

Here 5 quick questions you can ask when receiving shift report as a nurse to hopefully avoid the a similar scenario:

1. Does that patient have any family?
2. Who is the patient’s primary contact if something was to happen?
3.  Does the patient have any type of testing that they must be NPO for?
4.  Does the patient need assistance eating, showering, or using the bathroom? How does the patient take their pills? Swallows them or needs them crushed?

 -For a complete list of questions to ask during nursing shift report see this how to give nursing shift report


Sarah :-)