Nurses should be present at every interaction between a doctor and their patients. This is one of the recommendations of the Francis report, which calls for patient to have a named key nurse

responsible for coordinating care.  The report suggests that: * Nurses involvement in ward rounds is a key part of patient care; * No consultant ward round should take place without the key

nurse or an appointed deputy; * Handovers between nurses should occur at the end of shifts to ensure teams are up to date. It also identified that ward rounds are part of a nurse’s

development and should involve student nurses. Last year the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Nursing have published _Ward Rounds in Medicine: Principles for best