Research Paper on "Practice of Nursing Handoff Communication"

Research Paper 4 pages (1265 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

56). This is the same view provided by Abraham et al. (2011) who argue that communication failures have been identified as the leading causes of a series of clinical errors and unfavorable events during patient care (p.28). They stated that approximately 50% of communication failures or problems during nursing handoffs occur between care providers. Blouin (2011) also states that communication challenges are the root causes of unprecedented outcomes in nursing handoffs (p.97). This researcher supports his claim through the findings of a study that concluded that approximately 80% of serious clinical errors usually involve miscommunication between caregivers during transitions in the care delivery process. Actually, sentinel events reported to the Joint Commission between 1995 and 2006 were attributable to communication failures during transitions of care or nursing handoffs.

Even though they recognize the importance of accurate communication in nursing handoffs, Farhan et al. (2011) attribute poor transitions of care to other factors than communication. They argue that poor nursing handoffs are brought by lack of standardized structure and practice. This is primarily because research has shown that a gap exists between evidence and practice during nursing handoffs, which seemingly hinders the ability to standardize this important component of clinical practice. Moreover, the current healthcare system lacks a robust system through which safe nursing handoff of responsibility can take place and contributes to medical errors.

Improving Nursing Handoff Communication

While these researchers concurs that communication failures and breakdowns are the major causes of poor transitions of care, they provide different recommendations of potential solutions to help improve nursing handoff communication. Farhan et al. (2011) propose the establishment of a simple tool to provide the framework for nursing handoff (p.1). The simple tool incorporates medical and operational information that is vital for efficiency and organization of the subsequent shift. The authors further propose the use of ABC tool as part of a robust system and standardized structure and practice towards enhancing nursing handoff. Abraham et al. (2011) agree with Farhan et al. (2011) that standardization through the use of a handoff communication tool would help deal with problems associated with such transitions in care. However, Abraham et al. (2011) suggest that such a tool should be based on a body system format, which enables classification of patient care information based on varying body systems in order to eliminate variability in content and form of current process of nursing handoff (p.34). The handoff communication tool should be accompanied with strategies for streamlining pre-turnover activities through an information-push model in which information is sent to users without having them explicitly ask for the required information.

Popovich (2011) provides several recommendations to help improve nursing handoff communication including assuming responsibility for a patient, verifying his/her surrounding, and determining his/her condition and existing or pending treatments. The other measures include determining specific times when nursing handoffs are needed or occur and examining their procedures to identify effective ways in diverse situations.

Blouin (2011) recommend the SHARE model as a probable solution towards improving nursing handoff communication. This model involves standardizing critical content, identifying and utilizing existing and new technologies within the care delivery system, allowing for questions, reinforcing quality and measurement, and educating and coaching. This can be achieved through assuming a leadership role and participating in organization-wide efforts.

References

Abraham et al. (2011, October 22). Falling through the Cracks: Information Breakdowns in Critical Care Handoff Communication. AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings, 28-37. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3243259/

Blouin, A.S. (2011, April - June). Improving Hand-Off Communications: New Solutions for Nurses. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 26(2), 97-100.

Farhan, M., Brown, R., Woloshynowych, M. & Vincent, C. (2012). The ABC of Handover: A Qualitative Study to Develop a New Tool for Handover in… READ MORE

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