Patient Daily Rounds

• Healthcare providers stand in a circle at the bedside, discuss the patient’s condition, and make care decisions. The staff intensivist leads the team with the fellow’s support. The fellow, resident or medical student responsible for your loved one’s daily assessment will be presenting the facts, and the other residents and students will surround them.
• Schedule: Healthcare providers usually do the Rounds early morning. Speak with your nurse about the Round's start time.

Daily Rounds are a great time to listen and ask questions to the doctors and other healthcare staff. If unable to attend Rounds, you can connect with the critical care nurse assigned to your loved one for questions or concerns. Here’s a PDF resource on critically ill decision support.

End-of-Shift Physician Handover

Physician handover occurs twice a day (usually around 7 am and 4 pm) at the bedside. During handover, the team of physicians who have been caring for your loved one during daytime or nighttime and are now at the end of their shift share updated clinical information with the team of physicians who are replacing them. Handovers usually take a few minutes for each patient, depending on the complexity and stability of their illness. The goal of handover is not to review the patient’s condition in detail (like on Daily Rounds), but to focus on major issues or changes that need follow-up over the next few hours.

Family members are welcome to be present during the afternoon physician handover (around 4 pm) and can request a brief update on the patient's condition and/or ask questions. If the physicians are not able to readily provide answers to your questions or judge that an update will require more time than is immediately available, they may offer to come back and meet you after completing the handover of all the patients. You are also encouraged to ask the bedside nurse for updates and clarifications if you missed the handover or heard something during handover that was not entirely clear to you.