Bedside Nursing Report: Changing the Practice in the Hospital and How it Affects Patients

This literature review explores barriers and obstacles that have prevented bedside shift reports to be the standard of practice for hospitals nation-wide. By analyzing existing research from 2019-2024, the review was able to explore data from both qualitative and quantitative research studies. The analysis reveals that there are benefits of the bedside shift report style for nurses and their patients. Nurses are able to gain more knowledge and information on their patients while being less distracted by their surroundings when completing a report at the bedside. Patients will also benefit in the bedside shift reports because it allows for an increase in patient safety and privacy while also enabling the patient to be a more active member in their plan of care. These findings emphasize the benefits of the bedside shift report and prove that a full change would lead to decreased miscommunication among nurses as well as decrease nursing medical errors. This review will provide insight into the most effective implementation strategies for healthcare facilities that can be put in place to allow for a smooth transition to this style of reporting.