Purposeful Rounding

In this episode, we will be discussing how and why to use hourly/purposeful rounding

Transcript

Choehns: 0:01

Hello everyone and welcome back to Nursing Together, where we take a few minutes to reconnect with the heart of nursing. I'm Michelle Hoen Tanner, CNE, and your host. Today we're gonna dive into something fundamental to both patients and our nursing practice. Hourly rounding, or what. We're gonna start now calling purposeful rounding. This year, we are gonna be focusing on our communication with our patients, which begins with purposeful rounding. We've all heard about it, some have even groaned about it, but purposeful rounding isn't just a task to check off. It's an opportunity. It's one of those small actions that when done intentionally, has a huge impact. So let's get started. Why does rounding matter? Through research with A NAG, NA and A ONL, patients often tell us that what makes them feel the safest in the hospital is knowing that their nurse is there for them, checking in, explaining, anticipating their needs before they even. Have hit that call. Light purposeful rounding helps us do just that. It reduces the falls, improves pain control, increases patient satisfaction, and even helps us prevent pressure injuries. But most importantly, it builds trust. It's not just about walking into a room. It's about creating a moment of connection. When the patient knows someone is consistently looking out for them, their anxiety drops, their comfort level rises. That's the kind of care people remember. Get to know something about your patient. Their favorite show their family or their hobbies and refer back to that or add those types of things within your conversation. We are here to help you get back to your family just as quick as possible, or, I know your son's baseball game is this weekend. Let's work on your pain goals so we can get you to that game. So what does purposeful rounding look like? We use the four P's as a guide, right? We talk about pain, asking them are they comfortable? Do they need any pain medicine? We look at their position, we make sure we reposition them or check to see if they need to be moved. We look into potty, making sure and getting them the assistance to use the restroom. And then last but not least, possessions. We need to make sure that everything that they need and want is within their reach. That includes their call light, their phone, water, tissues, or anything that they need within their reach. But here's where it becomes more than just a checklist. When you walk into the room and you narrate your care, you say why you're doing it, and the reasoning behind it. Instead of just fluffing a pillow, you might say, I'm gonna go ahead and adjust this just a bit to help you stay comfortable and prevent any pressures within this area. This kind of narrative helps patients understand what we are doing. It also reduces their anxiety and reminds them they are not alone in this care. Now let's be real purposeful. Rounding can feel like just one more thing and a very busy shift. But when it is hardwired into our behaviors, it becomes more second nature and it is no longer a burden. It is how we practice. It's not about going into the room every 60 minutes. Putting a dot on our I or crossing our T or putting a check mark next to our task. It's about adopting a mindset of presence. Of course, in with purposeful rounding, we are weaving intentional care into everything we do, whether we are delivering meds, answering a call light, or just walking by. When rounding becomes part of our rhythm, we will see differences. We will see fewer call lights, we will see calmer patients. And yes, believe it or not, you will see fewer interruptions. And maybe just as important, it helps us feel more in control of our shift. Proactive. Every single time beats out reactive care. So let's take this time and be purposeful with our rounding. Let's look at what that really means. So let me go ahead and give you just a quick little example of how that might work. So it begins with the nurse walking in

Grace: 5:56

Mr. Johnson, I am Grace. I will be your nurse today and I wanted do a quick check with you to make sure everything is going well. I remembered you love golf and I hear that there is a golf tournment on today that you wanted to watch, so I would like to go ahead and make sure that I get all of your needs met so you can watch the tournament.

Bernard: 6:13

Thank you. I appreciate that. I don't really want to bother you, but my leg is really starting to hurt.

Grace: 6:20

Thank you for letting me know. From a scale of 1 to 10. where do you think your pain is now.

Bernard: 6:24

I am current an 8

Grace: 6:26

Ok. Let me see if you're due for some pain medicine. Yes it looks like you are due for your oxycodone. I want to ensure that you are comfortable especially while you are healing. I am also going to check on your fluids. Do you need to go to the restroom while I am here? We can get up and go so you don't have to wait, just in case I get tied up with another patient.

Choehns: 6:45

You should start beginning to reposition the patient to make sure that leg is in an upright position and not hurting as much. Explain everything you are doing and why. And then also make sure that everything is there in front of them so they don't have to reach or do something to cause that foot additional pain. After you go get your pain medicine, you come back in and say,

Grace: 7:14

This is Oxycodone 5 milligrams which is what your doctor prescribed for you. I'll be back in 20 minutes to see how you are doing and if you need anything else to help with the pain.

Choehns: 7:23

After you have done all of that, the next thing you should do, once again, before you leave the room, is to ensure that call or light is within reach. Move the water a little bit closer. See if they need to go to the restroom before you walk out the door and then let them know when you are going to be back and then mean it. If you are going to be back in 20 minutes to check on that pain level, then come back in 20 minutes. Don't make it longer or more angst will come into that patient and then you do follow up with. I will be back in 20 minutes, but if anything changes in that time period, here is your call light. Please make sure you use it. You are not bothering us. We are here for you. So what has this done? This has helped us one. Not be rushed and for our patients to not feel like we are being rushed, we are explaining everything we were doing. We were being responsive to the pain proactively, we were adjusting. We were also anticipating what might not, what might come next in regards to making sure that pain is okay within 20 minutes. And then we're also reassuring. They were not a burden. This should have maybe taken all of two or three minutes, not much time out of your work, where that might have taken 15 minutes out of your time if you had to keep going back and forth because you were not addressing all of the issues. What that means for you is you're hard wiring a behavior. It's not about checking the box, it's not about making sure that you're doing the next task. It's about being proactive, present, and compassionate consistently. When we round with a purpose, we don't just check that task. We connect, we reduce anxiety, and we prevent issues from arising. So as you go through your shift today, I invite you to see that rounding is not just a chore, but it's a gift, an opportunity to reassure, to reconnect, and to protect your patients. Because when patients feel seen, safe and cared for, they heal better. And if they feel better, then the care that we are giving them. Accounts, thank you for spending this time with me on nursing together. You are making a difference even if it's one round at a time, but I appreciate everything that you do every single day. Until next time, take care of each other and take care of yourselves.