When Is the Best Time to Take an Inpatient Census

question 11

Multiple Choice

When is the best time to take an inpatient census and why?

• A) The best time to take inpatient census is noon, because patients are not in their rooms because of surgery or other tests they are scheduled for.
• B) The best time to take inpatient census is midnight. Most patients are in their rooms and not out for surgery or tests and those who have been transferred to another unit have already been transferred. Those patients discharged have already gone.
• C) Midnight
• D) The best time to take census is at 6:00 pm because patients are eating dinner.

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Definitions:

Hormones

Chemical messengers produced by glands in the body that regulate various physiological processes, including growth, metabolism, and reproduction.

Regulation

A rule or directive made and maintained by an authority to regulate behavior, usually in the context of legal, professional, or institutional settings.

Specific Gravity

The weight or degree of concentration of a substance compared with that of an equal volume of another, such as distilled water, taken as a standard.