The thread that links: continuity of patient care

With managed care shortening hospital stays, nurses at the bedside are challenged to come up with innovative ways to utilize time wisely. Our critical care transport team has implemented a strategy that assists in this endeavor. An universal admission data sheet is completed when each patient arrives on the unit. This form takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete. It identifies several issues that impact on patient teaching and discharge planning. By completing this form enroute, we provide the bedside nurse with more time to concentrate on discharge planning and teaching. Follow up indicates that early implementation of this form leads to a shorter, more productive stay for the patient. We have also observed an improvement in the continuity of patient care, since the transport nurse completing the form communicates the information to the primary nurse receiving the patient. This has also led to a strong link between the outside satellite staff and the base hospital staff through better relationships between the transporting and receiving nurses.