Doing bedside shift reports (BSR) is beneficial for both patients and nurses. This practice not only improves the quality of nursing care at the intensive care unit (ICU), ensures patient safety, and prevents adverse effects but also increases nurses’ satisfaction and, as a result, their overall performance (Dorvil, 2018). According to Dorvil (2018), “nurse advantages include improved report efficiency, teamwork, nursing accountability, and report accuracy…” (p. 23). Moreover, BSR “can improve the patient experience with care as related to nursing communication” (Dorvil, 2018, p. 22). It also significantly decreases incidental overtime which saves money for a medical facility (Dorvil, 2018). Therefore, one can safely say that BSR is an essential part of quality nursing care.
Another thing that is crucial for the effective delivery of quality nursing care in the ICU is a healthy work environment. The researchers argue that patient and nurse outcomes significantly improve after implementing a healthy work environment (Ulrich et al., 2019). Its implementation requires ICU nurses to adhere to specific standards developed by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (Ulrich et al., 2019). Nurses should advocate for promoting healthy work environments in ICUs and other departments of their healthcare facilities in order to be able to provide high-quality care and treatment at all levels of the healthcare institution.
The author of the post was correct in mentioning hourly rounding as part of quality nursing care. It is one of the essential factors contributing to positive patient outcomes at ICU and other units where nurses are involved. It is worth noting that this practice not only ensures the safety of patients but also increases their satisfaction (Ram et al., 2019). By performing BSR and hourly rounding and implementing a healthy environment, ICU nurses deliver high-quality care and treatment.
References
Dorvil, B. (2018). The secrets to successful nurse bedside shift report implementation and sustainability. Nursing Management, 49(6), 20-25.
Ram, M. S., John, J., & John, S. (2019). Purposeful hourly rounding by nurses: A best practice implementation project. International Journal of Nursing Care, 7(2), 16-19.
Ulrich, B., Barden, C., Cassidy, L., & Varn-Davis, N. (2019). Critical care nurse work environments 2018: Findings and implications. Critical Care Nurse, 39(2), 67-84. Web.