Clinical nursing rounds, part 4: teaching rounds for nurses

Clinical rounds are being introduced in the Dudley Group of Hospitals to improve patient care, involve patients and improve communication. There are four types of rounds, Matrons rounds, Nurse Management Rounds, Patient Comfort rounds and Teaching rounds. This article describes Teaching rounds and is the final article in the series of four. Nurses and midwives learn in a variety of ways: through courses and accredited programmes, seminars, conferences, self-directed study and so on. One of the most effective ways, however, is to participate in special clinical teaching rounds. These are aimed at all learners, whether pre-registration students or qualified staff. Their aim is to learn from direct patient contact with facilitation from an experienced nurse teacher. In this article an account is given of how a Professor of Nursing linked to a hospital Trust uses this approach to teach and evaluate nursing care and is the last in the series of four on clinical nursing rounds. It is felt the rounds are particularly useful in developing clinical practice, evidence-based care, understanding patients and the conditions they experience, while linking theory and practice.