Everything Nurses Need To Know About Charting

Nurses spend much of their time on the job filling out paperwork and taking notes in the patient’s chart. If you’re new to the profession or a student considering a nursing career, we’ll explain everything nurses need to know about charting, from why it’s so important to helpful tips for better documentation!

Why Charting Is Critical to Nursing

One of a nurse’s most important duties is writing the patient’s documentation and their treatment during their stay in a medical facility. Much of being a nurse is filling out paperwork, and while it may seem tedious, it’s a crucial part of the job for various reasons.

Team Communication

The chart is one of the core tenets of a patient’s treatment—it’s where you document all the details of their injury or illness. Also, you’ll log every step of treatment with corresponding dates and names. The chart is critical for communicating the many moving parts of a treatment plan. It ensures that, from one shift of nurses and healthcare professionals to another, there’s no miscommunication or drop in care. Everyone can read the patient’s chart to understand them completely.

Written Record of Treatment

The documentation of a patient’s treatment provides a written record of the patient’s treatment that doctors and other nurses can view later. Charting is considered one of the four "Cs" of malpractice prevention, as it can exculpate healthcare professionals by providing a written record of what they did to the patient, why, and when. It also ensures all healthcare professionals are on the same page to prevent miscommunications and mistakes.

Nurse Charting Dos

Nurses have many responsibilities when charting; the first is always to complete their charting promptly. Write down information when things are fresh instead of trying to remember details later. Also, double-check you’re using the right chart—it’s not uncommon to take diligent notes before realizing you’re writing in the wrong chart! Finally, adhere to the three traits for charting to be accurate, objective, and complete in documentation.

Nurse Charting Don’ts

Everyone makes mistakes, but be on the lookout for some common ones when charting. For one, don’t assume anything—even if you enter a patient’s room to find them on the floor. Don’t guess that they fell from bed or tripped on their way to the restroom. Write down that you found them on the floor after helping them. Also, voice-to-text transcriptions are great tools for busy nurses, but don’t rely on them too much; always double-check their accuracy!

That’s practically everything nurses need to know about charting. Paperwork is far from the most fun part of the job, but it’s perhaps the most crucial. Accurate documentation could mean the difference between success and failure—so never take it lightly!