The Clinical Rounds on Patients’ Bedside in Internal Ward from Patients’ Viewpoints

  Introduction: Patients my feel uncomfortable toward discussing their diseases on their bedsides which is usually done by faculty members and students during clinical rounds. This study aimed to determine the viewpoints of internal ward patients about clinical rounds on their bedside in Alzahra hospital of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.   Methods: This descriptive study was performed on 110 patients hospitalized in internal wards of Alzahra hospital during September and October 2005. A valid and reliable questionnaire including 3 groups of questions about “attitude towards the events during the round”, “the list of events, patient experience during hospitalization” and “attitude towards the process of clinical round”. This questionnaire also asked about demographic characteristics and having a family caregiver during being hospitalized. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation.   Results: The questionnaires of 100 patients were complete. Most questions showed a positive attitude towards “the events during the round”. Most patients had experienced some events during the clinical rounds such as patient visit, and examination by a physician. Considering the process of clinical rounds, patients had more agreement on “the need to speak with the main physician”, “reducing the number of students” , and “the need to a change in educational method”.   Conclusion: Patients’ satisfaction can be provided by increasing the number of visits or the duration of visits, meaning more attention to patients. In total, clinical rounds on bedside do not have a significant negative effect, and by making some improvements, they can lead to a more positive view in patients without damaging clinical rounds.