Question

1.What steps should the nurse take to correctly identify a client for care
2. What information can the client provide for correct identification
3. What are the consequences of improper identification

Answer 1

1. It is very important to identify the patient correctly before any nursing care or any procedures. For the correct patient identification nurse can do the following steps.

By checking the following aspects the nurse can identify the patient correctly :

• Name. Call the patient by name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Hospital identification number
• Name of spouse, parents or significant others
• Phone number
• Photo

These are called as the identifiers. Nurse can use atleast two identifiers every time she goes to the patient for any care or any procedures

• Active communication with the patient can be encouraged
• Nurse has to know and strictly follow the hospital policies and protocols regarding patient identification.
• She can check the ID bands and case record
• Active involvement of the patient and family can be ensured in every part of the care process.
• Electronic support system like bar coding, electronic order entry etc.also can be used
• Repeated checking and review is needed
• In case of clients with impaired communication, nonverbal cues can be used for identification

2. The client can provide informations like his name, address, phone number, date of birth Hospital ID number, address etc.as mentioned above. He can also tell his doctor's name, his current medical status etc.

3. Proper identification of a patient is an important aspect in medical care. Improper patient identification can lead to serious consequences like the following :

Medication errors, wrong procedure in the wrong person, transfusion errors, errors with lab testing etc.