Nursing patient care rounds in the postanesthesia care unit setting

Creating time to learn and to share the art of nursing is as much a priority for nursing practitioners as doing the work of nursing. Experienced PACU or intensive care nurses can verify that the level of patient acuity, the knowledge needed to work with increasingly complex equipment, and the amount of direct responsibility the nurse has for patient outcomes continue to increase rapidly. Great disparity exists between the available time to accomplish and document the work of patient care and collaborate with health care team members, and the time to discuss, evaluate, and receive feedback in a nursing-focused setting. Finding time and a forum to consistently practice the art of nursing is often difficult amid the time constraints imposed by the work of nursing. With extra effort, though, it can be done. Indeed, for nursing practice to continue to strengthen and broaden in scope, it should be done!