All questions were answered thoroughly with some nurses choosing to include information not originally posted as part of the questionnaire. They wrote their own views of nursing rounds and how they have impacted their practice while others chose to describe the role of nursing rounds within each of the different shifts and in relation to members of the multidisciplinary team on the floor. The data analysis reveals a few main themes. All of them wrote that nursing rounds do help to organize their practice. One new graduate nurse wrote, “If I got one thing out of rounding, it’s that I’m very conscientious about addressing pain right at the start of the day and continuing throughout the day with my reassessment,”.

  The new graduate nurses have made it apparent that when they learn about nursing rounds, they are able to better understand what they need to do in order to provide the best care for their patients. They also stated that each shift tends to have a different view of rounds. Day shifts tend to have more staff on so they are able to do hourly rounds, with positive response from patients whereas, the evening and night shifts are assigned more patients thus limiting the time to round with every patient while getting the rest of their work done.

Discussion

  Data showed that the majority of the nurses who took part of this survey had heard about nursing rounds prior to employment. This demonstrates that nursing rounds may be taught during nursing school and are not always the responsibility of the health care facility. However, teaching nursing rounds must be a shared responsibility between academia and healthcare facilities to ensure consistency in nursing practice as we strive to provide safe patient care.

  Overall, it is apparent that a majority of these new graduate nurses are aware of the positive aspects of nursing rounds and try to participate in them. Hospital orientation programs must improve current orientation programs to assure coverage of this important topic as way to organize practice for new nurses. The benefits of nursing rounds can serve as a way to help new graduates organize practice and acquire good habits of patient assessments early on.

Limitations

  Limitations in this study include the development of a survey instrument which was not piloted thus rendering questionable validity, and reliability. Similarly, the population surveyed is very small and not representative of the larger new graduate population. This sample population was obtained from the same nursing program; therefore, knowledge of nursing rounds would be from the same source.

Future Directions

  More research needs to be done regarding the use of nursing rounds during new graduate nurses hospital orientation and in nursing curricula. With more research, the survey instrument used, or a similar one can be tested for validity and reliability. Nursing rounds are beneficial to the organizational skills of the new nurse, which lead to improved patient outcomes. Programs can be set up so that nursing rounds become a new standard of practice.

References

Close, A., & Castledine, G. (2005). Clinical nursing rounds part 2: nurse management rounds. British Journal of Nursing , 872-874.

Etheridge, S. A. (2007). Learning to Think Like a Nurse: Stories from New Nurse Graduates. Ther Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing , 24-30.

Hodges, H. F., Keeley, A. C., & Troyan, P. J. (2008). Professional Resilience in Baccalaureate-Prepared Acute Care Nurses: First Steps. Nursing Education Perspectives , 80-89.

Meade, C. M., Bursell, A. L., & Ketelsen, L. (2006). Effects of Nursing Rounds on Patients' Call Light Use, Satisfaction, and Safety. American Journal of Nursing , 58-70.

Tomaka, J., Thompson, S., & Palacios, R. (2006). The Relation of Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Social Support to Disease Outcomes Among the Elderly. Journal of Aging and Health , 359-384.

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