title: Off the record.
abstract: Most nurses often fail to check patient records thoroughly before treating them because they have too little time, according to research. Findings from a survey of 861 nurses across the UK suggest that only 10 per cent of nurses think they have time to check patient records thoroughly all of the time, and nearly one third check them properly only sometimes. Nurses in the study highlighted miscommunication and misplacement of patient records as major problems during shift handovers. The report, Improving Patient Safety and Efficiency in the NHS, was published by innovations company GS1 UK after having conducted the survey in partnership with Nursing Standard.