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Relay Safety Reports at Shift Changes

Certain situations increase the risk of adverse events and should prompt staff to be even more safety-conscious than usual. Examples include patients with the same last name, trials of new equipment, and research protocols. Identifying these higher-risk situations and bringing them to the attention of all staff members at the start of each shift decreases the likelihood of errors and adverse events.

Tips

Make the person in charge of the department or unit responsible for collecting and relaying the information for each shift. If there is no regular person in charge on a shift, appoint a member of the department or unit staff to take care of collecting and relaying the information.
Share safety information with staff from other departments who work with patients on the unit (e.g., physical therapists and respiratory therapists).
Monitor for common issues across departments; they may be alerts to system-wide issues.

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by Francis Marven Lee Locsin 2/14/2018 3:30:37 AM The patient endorsement is a must in the care of patients and their families. This activity is an effort done to put patients at the center of care. Health care providers have crucial obligations in ensuring the continuity of care. That is why bedside reports at shift changes should be adequately implemented where all reports concerning the safety and well-being of patients. If this becomes a habit, nurses in particular who are directly providing care for patients will be able to promote and maintain patient safety. Through this, the oncoming nurse will have the opportunity to make clarifications, ask questions, express concerns, and share goals for the each patient, thereby minimizing if not totally eradicating errors, thus, reducing the adverse events.

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by Jacqueline Pableo 2/8/2018 4:13:53 PM Relaying safety reports is crucial in preventing any adverse event or decreases the likelihood of errors. It is incumbent on health care professionals to be vigilant to any micro/macro changes occurring among patients and across the unit/department. Staff members and the person in charge should always be reminded that no matter how they perceive the safety reports as relevant or irrelevant, it must be communicated to the members of the succeeding shift. Thus, the relaying of a safety report during shift changes promote the continuity of care to patients.

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by Arlene Supremo 2/8/2018 6:05:01 AM Communication is crucial to maintaining a safe environment for the patient. End-of-the-shift endorsements that include communicating safety reports to the next team continuously ensures the well-being of the patient during the duration of care. It is an imperative duty by the outgoing team that a break in the safety measures will be endorsed to the next shift so that precautionary measures will be exercised. This approach either mitigates or prevents possible untoward situations that cause harm to the patient.

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by Marie Sue Cual 2/7/2018 9:29:31 PM I believe that relaying relevant information by the staff to the next shift in the unit is very important in ensuring the patients’ safety. The staff in-charge of the unit is responsible for relaying safety measures and information to the next shift on duty. The staff on duty must be alert and cautious in using the new equipment and must be checked before the procedure to avoid adverse events. The staff in-charge should also inform the next shift there are patients with the same name. In this case the staff must identify the patient correctly by verifying identity to avoid mistakes in giving treatment such as medications or any procedures that will harm the patient. Their names should have an ALERT sign to remind the staff that the patient has the same name with another patient. Knowing these high risk situations at the beginning of the shift reduces incidence of errors and adverse events. Proper and prompt relay of information will promote patients’ safety.

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by Ma. Venus Borja 2/4/2018 9:21:53 AM Relaying of safety reports at shift changes is another way of decreasing the likelihood of errors and adverse events. The tips cited is a good suggestion. For planning phase, if there is no regular person in charge of a shift, appoint a member of the department or unit staff to take care of collecting and relaying the information per shift. Then relay it to other healthcare team members starting from one nurses station to the other and then down to other departments like radiology, laboratory and physical therapy departments. Then study the strategies employed and act on the result of the changes made. If the intervention is not successful, study another way of promoting that strategy and open the topic for suggestions until everybody in the healthcare team will be aware of the new strategy in relaying safety reports at shift changes so that quality care will be attained.

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