Transcription
Chapter 2. Listening
One. There are many things that will become obvious once you have done your first ward round, but I can give you a few tips that helped me on my first day. The first thing is: make sure you know the names of all your patients and where they are in the ward, as you want to demonstrate that you are familiar with your patients.
The next tip is: always check with the bed managers if any patients have been moved, and if so, where to, in order to avoid wasting time, especially the Consultants running around looking for patients. Also, make sure you have all the case notes, X-rays, and so on, on hand so that you can refer to them quickly. It is useful to invite a nurse who knows your patients to come on rounds with you, because they may be more knowledgeable about the patients on the ward than you are, as regards the case histories and results. Record them clearly and concisely; in that way you can access information easily.