24 hour sheets are a communication tool used by nurses to update each other on things that have happened with residents under their care.
These are records which are kept at the nurses station which describe changes in medication orders, orders for wound care, the occurrence of nursing home falls or other injuries, the onset or decline of bed sores, and so forth. These are handwritten and typically a few days worth are kept at the nurse’s station at any one time before they are removed and archived by the nursing home. They are a quick for nurses to be brought up to speed on what has happened over the last several days with residents.
One important thing to know about the 24 hour sheets is that they are not a part of the nursing home chart, so you will not get them simply by asking for the resident chart. However, as experienced Chicago nursing home lawyers, this is one item that we know to ask for as part of our pretrial investigation of a case after a nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit has been filed.