Indiana hospital involves patients and family in shift change bedside report

Until 2007, nurses at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis relied on traditional shift change reporting methods to communicate patient care information from caregiver to caregiver. But when challenged by Riley’s leadership team to find ways to improve hospital documentation, the Clinical Practice Council began looking at a standardized approach to hospitalwide shift change reporting.

After a six-month pilot program, an educational video and PowerPoint® presentation, and another six-month training process, Riley implemented its hospitalwide nurse-to-nurse shift change report at bedside with families.

Not only did leadership, the nursing staff, and physicians accept the process, but patients and families also became more involved and felt safer as a result.

Riley was recently recognized for its efforts by the National Patient Safety Foundation with the 2010 Socius Award, which symbolizes the relationship between healthcare providers and the patients and families they serve.

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