Communication between shift handoffs
For the achievement of continuity of patient care, healthcare professionals should clearly and precisely transfer patients’ clinical information to the next shift personnel during a handoff. Besides, between shifts, a patient’s condition may change, which requires additional interventions; thus, effective communication during this period is critical. Effective communication is crucial for safe patient care and reduces incidences of medical errors (Shahid & Thomas, 2018). For health professionals to effectively hand over patients’ specific data, they need to have situational awareness. In the hospital setups, most communication occurs between nurses and physicians, and handoffs have been identified to be vulnerable to communication failures between the two healthcare teams. For instance, 70% of medical errors have been attributed to ineffective communication between nurses and physicians. Shahid & Thomas (2018) cite communication barriers between the multidisciplinary team as being associated with the difference in communication styles, training, and reporting expectations.
A year ago, our unit did not have a structured tool for shift handoffs. Our unit charge noticed the variation in patients’ data reported to the next shift by the shift leaving the unit. She then called on a staff meeting and educated every nurse and physician on effective communication between handoffs. The unit charge educated the staff about the SBAR tool, how to use it, and the specific locations for patient handoff. Besides, before that, only nurses were involved in handing over patients’ information, but now, both nurses and physicians are involved in patient handoff to foster teamwork (Shahid & Thomas, 2018). Also, the location for patient handoff was changed from the nurses’ station to the bedside. According to Maxson et al., 2012, handing over a patient’s report at the bedside promotes situational awareness. That is, it allows the oncoming nurse to visualize the patient and ask the previous nurse questions. It also allows the patient to play an active role in their management. So far, our unit experienced safe care, only one instance omitted medication was reported compared to over thirty of them in the last three months, and there is increased staff satisfaction.
References
Maxson, P. M., Derby, K. M., Wrobleski, D. M., & Foss, D. M. (2012). Bedside nurse-to-nurse handoff promotes patient safety. Medsurg Nursing, 21(3), 140.
Shahid, S., & Thomas, S. (2018). Situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) communication tool for handoff in health care–a narrative review. Safety in Health, 4(1), 7.