| dc.description.abstract | Background. Effective clinical handover ensures continuity of patient care. During the last
decade interventions to improve handover has increased. Current research has identified
numerous safety risks related to patient handovers after surgery.
Purpose. Examine and analyze the handover challenges in a local setting, and document
current practice.
Material and methods. Three qualitative semi structured focus group interview was
conducted with 13 registered nurses to describe the current practice. Using a checklist
including 23 items, the information transfer during 100 post-operative handovers was
documented, and subsequently compared with patient medical records.
Results. The focus group interviews indicate that sender and receiver often have different
opinions about what items should be included in the verbal handover. In the observed
handover situations, two items were transferred in all cases, patient name and type of surgery.
Items regarding the post-operative period was transferred in only 72 % of the handovers.
Items rarely transmitted were plan for lines and drains, postop investigations, antibiotic
therapy, feeding plan, regular medication and patient's relatives.
Conclusions. This study demonstrates that current practice in post-operative handover is
incomplete. A standardized handover appears useful to optimize the handover process.
Relevance. Postoperative handover involves staff across professional group and skill sets,
each with their own different yet important priorities of what information must be transferred.
Incomplete information transfer may have a negative impact on patient safety. Before safety
solutions can be considered is it important to analyze the challenges in the local setting and
customized the solutions to fit the specific context in which the handover takes place. | nb_NO |
