This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap through a survey administered to new graduate nurses to assess their knowledge and practice of nursing rounds. The data gathered from this survey will help to recognize the importance of implementing comprehensive orientation programs to new graduate nurses; and to assure dissemination of the positive aspects of nursing rounds that could help organize nursing practice and improve patient outcomes. These findings may provide new evidence that will allow orientation programs and nursing schools to implement this information into their curriculum.

Review of Literature

  In the landmark study performed by Meade, Bursell and Ketelsen (2006), the researchers determined the effects of nursing rounds on patients’ call light use, satisfaction and safety. Before this study had been completed, there was very little information about call light use in relation to patient care (Meade, Bursell, & Ketelsen, 2006). Through a quasi-experimental design, 27 nursing units in 14 hospitals performed nursing rounds at either one or two hour intervals. These nursing rounds consisted of 12 items that were assessed for each patient. The rounding items included such things as assessing the pain level, offering toileting, assessing patient poisition, doing safety checks, asking if there is anything that can be done and telling the patient when the nurse will be back to round again (Meade, Bursell, & Ketelsen, 2006). Results of the study showed that consistent rounding significantly reduced patient call light use, patient satisfaction was increased and patient falls were greatly reduced. The authors concluded that nursing rounds should be implemented in all nursing facilities because it improves patient outcomes, it will help prevent nursing burnout and fatigue leading to enhanced and organized care when the rounds are consistent (Meade, Bursell, & Ketelsen, 2006).

  Furthermore, Meade, Bursell and Ketelsen (2006) state, “Nursing staff members who performed one-hour rounding reported that units were quieter; also, they reported that they were able to be more attentive and respond more quickly to call lights” (Meade, Bursell, & Ketelsen, 2006). Thus nursing rounds, when performed regularly, can have a significant impact on patient care. There has been significant research performed on the impact of increased socialization and the improvement of patient health, and nursing rounds are one way to increase contact with the patient, which will allow for positive health achievements.

  Similarly, stressful experiences and negative emotions have an effect on the immunological response of the body leading to “prolonged infection and delayed wound healing” (Temkin-Greener, et al, 2004, p. 779). If patients are unable to have a positive view of their recovery, and if they do not have the social support that they need, they are more likely to succumb to illnesses and will eventually want to give up (Tomaka, Thompson, & Palacios, 2006). Nursing rounds have been found to minimize the call light use, reduce the risk of falls and increase patient satisfaction, which in turn, decreases negative emotions, improves the patients’ health and allows for better health outcomes (Meade, Bursell, & Ketelsen, 2006).

  Currently there is research on the benefits of nursing rounds; however, there is very little information on whether this type of practice is being incorporated into new graduate orientation. New graduates are faced with many challenges as they enter the field and must take everything that they have learned and start to apply it to real situations. New graduates have stated that they “were afraid they would not know what was going on with each patient. They feared they would not know what the assessment data meant and that if they missed anything and harm came to the patient, it would be their fault” (Etheridge, 2007). Another study found that new graduate nurses with less than one year of experience thought that time management and “learning the pace of the job” was a struggle for them (Etheridge, 2007) and face issues related to time management skills, finding “how to pace themselves most challenging than initially anticipated” (Hodges, Keeley, & Troyan, 2008). Nursing rounds may be a way for the new graduate nurses to get a better understanding of how to manage time and may help to prevent them from feeling overwhelmed by intercepting the potential problems before they occur.

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