Exploration of the experiences, opinions and attitudes of nurses on inter-shift handover procedures
Journal
Archives of Hellenic Medicine
Date Issued
August 2019
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To explore the experiences, opinions, and attitudes of nurses
regarding the nursing inter-shift handover process. METHOD A qualitative/
observational study was carried out at the University General Hospital of
Crete, Greece from November 2015 to February 2016. Convenience sampling
was used to choose 22 nurses (3 males/19 females, mean age 39.3±8.2 years)
who worked shifts in the nursing departments, based on the hospital shift
schedule. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire with
six open-ended questions, administered by recorded interview. Content and
cluster analysis were performed of the responses. RESULTS The responses
revealed a variety of experiences, requirements, deficiencies and convictions
regarding the process that is, or should be, implemented for nursing handover
at shift change. The main characteristics were related to the clinical condition
and management of patients, lack of a common, systematic nursing handover
method, lack of confidence of the nurses in their scientific knowledge and
skills, need for systematization of, and critical approach to, information, and
significant parameters for provision of optimum health care, need to design
care plans based on best practice and need for training. CONCLUSIONS According to the experiences and opinions of the nursing staff, effective nursing handover can only be achieved with clearly defined clinical processes,
using nursing diagnoses, and through the implementation of best nursing
practice. A necessary precondition for achieving effective nursing handover
is training on the methods of clinical information transfer, and its importance
for ensuring patient safety.
regarding the nursing inter-shift handover process. METHOD A qualitative/
observational study was carried out at the University General Hospital of
Crete, Greece from November 2015 to February 2016. Convenience sampling
was used to choose 22 nurses (3 males/19 females, mean age 39.3±8.2 years)
who worked shifts in the nursing departments, based on the hospital shift
schedule. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire with
six open-ended questions, administered by recorded interview. Content and
cluster analysis were performed of the responses. RESULTS The responses
revealed a variety of experiences, requirements, deficiencies and convictions
regarding the process that is, or should be, implemented for nursing handover
at shift change. The main characteristics were related to the clinical condition
and management of patients, lack of a common, systematic nursing handover
method, lack of confidence of the nurses in their scientific knowledge and
skills, need for systematization of, and critical approach to, information, and
significant parameters for provision of optimum health care, need to design
care plans based on best practice and need for training. CONCLUSIONS According to the experiences and opinions of the nursing staff, effective nursing handover can only be achieved with clearly defined clinical processes,
using nursing diagnoses, and through the implementation of best nursing
practice. A necessary precondition for achieving effective nursing handover
is training on the methods of clinical information transfer, and its importance
for ensuring patient safety.