Lessons · Nursing · two patient identifiers
Two identifiers, and what does not count as one
A patient is identified by two pieces of information that belong to the person, such as full name and date of birth, checked against the band and the record; a room number or a bed is not one of them.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
What it is for
Rooms change, beds get swapped, and two patients on one unit share a surname more often than anybody expects. Asking an open question and letting the patient say their own name and date of birth catches what pointing at a door never will.
How to think about it
Ask the patient to state their full name and date of birth rather than asking them to confirm yours. Compare what they say with the wristband, and compare the band with the record you are working from. If the patient cannot answer, the band and the record still have to agree, and a second person confirms.
Worked example
Ask: please tell me your full name and date of birthAn open question. Confirming a name you said yourself is not a check.
Compare what they say with the wristbandThe band is on the person, so it travels with them.
Compare the band with the record you are working fromTwo identifiers agreeing across two sources is the check.
A room number and a bed letter: not identifiersThey say where somebody is lying, not who they are.
Your turn
Write the second identifier that goes with a full name.
Full name and
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Asking whether somebody is Mrs Brown. A patient who is tired, unwell or hard of hearing says yes to almost anything. The question has to make them supply the answer.