Bookmark this RN Journal Article or Manuscript

Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks Stumbleupon Livejournal Twitter

 

Are New Graduate Nurses Being Taught About the Importance of Nursing Rounds?

by Megan Halacy, Student Nurse and
Edith Claros, APRN BC
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
School of Nursing


Abstract

It has been shown that hourly nursing rounds improve patient care by reducing call light use, increasing patient satisfaction, and reducing falls. However, there is limited research on what new graduates know about the positive aspects of nursing rounds. Therefore, this study helps to determine if new graduate nurses have any knowledge about nursing rounds and if they are using nursing rounds as a way to organize their practice. A survey was given to 35 new graduate nurses that completed the same nursing program in May 2008. Analyses were performed on the results of the survey in order to determine their knowledge of nursing rounds. The survey showed that a majority of the respondents understood the importance of nursing rounds however, only half discussed nursing rounds in orientation and a little more than half participate in nursing rounds now. It was concluded that more research needs to be done in order to determine the best way to incorporate nursing rounds in the practice of new graduates. A protocol for orientation or adding nursing rounds to the curriculum of all nursing schools may increase the amount of new graduates performing nursing rounds and in turn, help to better organize their practice and improve patient care.

Introduction 

  As future graduate nurses, it is important to stay abreast evidence based nursing practice and tuned to the demands of a constantly evolving field. Nursing care has become increasingly complex due to acuity levels and patient assignments, dwindling resources, which require optimal organizational skills for best patient outcomes. The National Patient Safety Goals was developed as a method to improve patient safety requiring refinement in the way nurses assess, perform, and communicate. The view of healthcare is changing and the public is becoming more educated on what they can expect from the system thus demanding change in the way nurses care for patients. To meet this demand, a challenging alternative are nursing rounds, now beginning to come to the forefront in improving patient care. Nursing rounds have been implemented in many establishments in order to assess the status of the patients, provide care, and determine what needs to be done for the patient before the patient feels the need to use the call light (Close & Castledine, 2005).

  Nursing rounds however are still outside of the new graduate nurse’s knowledge radar. There is very little research done on this topic, and whether new graduate orientation programs address nursing rounds, or whether new graduate nurses are aware of the positive aspects of nursing rounds, thus creating a gap in knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to explore this further to assess common practices of the new graduate nurses orientation programs currently held in hospitals. Learning whether or not new graduate nurses are actually using the nursing rounds as a way to organize their practice, could prove beneficial to patient outcomes. There is a need for empirical information on nursing rounds that address questions regarding the importance of nursing rounds for new graduate nurses during orientation.

<< Previous    [1]  2  3  4  5    Next >>