Introduction: Ineffective communication is a prominent contributor to patient harm in hospitals. Recently, there has been a growth of research that indicates that clinical handover is a critical site for communication errors, that can subsequently lead to patient harm. According to Eggins & Slade (2015), a recent European Commission project recognized handover communication to be responsible for 25% to 40% of adverse events. This suggests that there is ineffective communication at some point during the handover period. Clinical handover can be defined as the transfer of accountability and or responsibility for patient care from one provider or a team of providers to another (Eggins & Slade, 2015). Thus this topic is of great interest as I have witnessed ineffective communication during the handover period that had the potential to become an adverse event, whilst on a clinical placement. For that reason, a quality improvement initiative of bedside handover should be implemented to reduce the risk and potentially prevent patient harm. This essay will articulate and justify a healthcare quality improvement initiative based on observations seen out on clinical placement. Firstly, it will express and give reason to the quality improvement initiative of bedside handover; it will then apply Kurt Lewin’s 3-Step Model for Change theory whilst using the initiative of bedside handover and finally, propose an evaluation plan to see the effectiveness of the quality improvement
Within a health care setting communication is a necessity. This communication not only includes the need for professional communication but also the way in which information is shared to the patient and to other healthcare workers. Another important aspect of health care worker such as a nurse is the effectiveness off a handover. Within the video, Effective Communication in nursing these three aspects of communication (Professional communication, provision of information and handover) were seen and will be analysed further, within this essay. These will be analysed through the three aspects, the care of the patient, the image of the individual nurse and the health outcomes of the patient. All of these three aspects of communication are vitally important to the overall patient needs.
Poor communication puts patients in danger because it can lead to medical errors and adverse events. For example, a medication error can occur if a physician’s orders are not updated in time or if the outgoing nurse does not provide the correct time in which a dose was administered last. Thus it is crucial to communicate any recent treatment that has been implemented. In this way, nurses and physicians can facilitate the prevention of errors. Another consequence of ineffective communication is that it can decrease morale and increase work-related stress among members of the healthcare team. If nurses and physicians are not understanding each other’s actions, conflict ensues. It can cause toxic interpersonal relationships. This, in turn, will affect the level of patient care because it is difficult to focus amidst emotional strain and
The basic reason for this study is to identify ways to improve the quality of healthcare among patients through bedside reporting method.This will better satisfaction and services delivered at the hospitals. The ever increasing specialization to improve patient outcomes and better health care delivery can contribute to the serious riskof fragmentation of care and problems with handoffs. These are some of the issues associated with emergency room reporting method (Radtke, 2013). There is need to evaluate the handoff method used in hospitals and understand which is the best way to use that increases patient satisfaction. Bedside handoff gives the patient an opportunity to contribute to his or her plan of care. It allows the nurse to visualize the client and as necessary questions regarding their health status. This is the reason there is a need to conduct research on bedside reporting.
Giving and receiving an incomplete or inadequate patient hand-off could mean the difference between life or death. In 2006, The Joint Commission addressed hand-off communication as a National Patient Safety Goal, and in 2010, the objective became a standard. However, evidence still shows there are gaps and that “substandard or variable hand-offs have contributed to errors, care omissions, treatment delays, inefficiencies from repeated work, inappropriate treatment, adverse events with minor or major harm, increased length of stay, avoidable readmissions, and increased costs” (Halm, 2013). The Joint Commission reported in 2017 that “ineffective hand-off communication was the cause of the majority of medical errors, including sentinel events” ("Inadequate Handoff Communication," 2017). The hospital I selected for my clinic hours uses a communication form that has not been updated in several years. These are the reasons why I chose to update and improve the current hand-off form for my sustainable product to promote better communication and increase patient safety. Furthermore, research proves that “successful hand-off improvement programs have the potential to substantially improve patient safety” ("Inadequate Handoff Communication," 2017).
In the article, "Improving Patient Safety by Standardizing Handoff Communications" (Danis, 2007), the purpose of the study was to implement a standardized approach to handoff communication and to improve compliance in using a handoff communication form. The study was based on the lack of standardized communication as the root cause of issues surrounding how patients receive care and safety and addressed the JACHO 2006 National Patient Safety Goals requiring a standardized approach in handoff communications. The study found that implementing a handoff communication form increased communications about patients between staff of each department. It concluded that staffs were more aware of communication gaps and the difficulties in communicating in the complex health care environment. This study is important for bringing more awareness and solutions to the problem of interdepartmental communications to ensure that patients will continue to
I understand your sense of urgencies however, communication was sent June 07, 2017 at 12:20pm that you could pick up your check and there was no response about making arrangements to pick your check up or have it dropped off at the group home. In regards to your paperwork, Ms. Blanks is able to complete that document but you would need to respond back to her email.
It has been proven that bedside handover with ISBAR has provided a safety transition and met patient’s satisfaction that gives more opportunity to clarify information (ACSQHC 2012). Although, bedside handover with ISBAR is strictly implemented, there are difficulties in the application due to ‘changes in complex social practices’ of nurses that somehow limits its uptake (ACSQHC 2012, cited in Jeffcott, Evans & Cameron 2009). This literature review sought to study the rationale as to the effectiveness of bedside handover with ISBAR framework in clinical settings; and to identify the common barriers to effective communication in bedside handover.
It has been reported by various studies that most patient care errors occur during the handoff due to miscommunication between the caregivers and their reports regarding inaccurate information about the patient’s care, treatment and current condition.
In this article, the authors investigated the vulnerabilities in emergency department to internal medicine patient transfers through self-administered surveys of all emergency medicine house staff. More specifically, the survey investigated adverse events due to faulty communications during handoffs. According to this survey, 29% of the emergency staff reported either an adverse or near-miss event due to errors during handoffs. Furthermore, the survey respondents identified inaccurate or incomplete information, cultural and professional conflict, crowding, and many other factors as the contributors to handoff errors. By identifying specific contributors to handoff errors, this article serves as guidance for handoff intervention.
An observational study published in January of 2015 found several barriers to effective communication in handoff reporting. Two prominent barriers were identified; disorganization and the inability to understand the information received. The study determined by incorporating a structured tool for communication, which included categories, aided in ensuring the information’s completeness, as well as improved the level of understanding of the report content (Foster-Hunt, Parush, Ellis, Thomas, & Rashotte, 2015). Halm (2013), identified three key elements incorporated into an effective handoff report. These components included face-to-face or 2-way communication, a structured template or form, and content which allowed the health care worker to hypothesize a diagnosis related to the patients’ clinical condition (Halm, 2013). The four most frequent elements discussed in a handoff report were history, events, patient status, and future care plan (McMullan, Parush, & Momtahan,
Also, there are hardly communication barriers between them. Accordingly, this could be explained that they had a completely handover performance as a result of effective inter-professional communication and collaboration in order to optimise patient’s outcome.
Communication is the most important aspect in any kind of health care setting as it is through this that you meet the patients’ needs and wants. Without efficient communication, errors can be made, people within you care become neglected and as a result complaints are filed, patients do not feel looked after and therefore the care system is portrayed in a negative light. An example of where this happened was in Mid Staffordshire, even though this report was very concerning, it has changed the health care standards for the better. Francis (2010)
Communication plays a vital role in the healthcare setting, as the relationship with the healthcare professional sets the tone of the care experience and has a powerful impact on patient satisfaction. It is “the shared process in which messages are sent and received between two or more people which are made up of a sender, receiver, and message in a particular context” (cite, date). This essay highlights the importance of, and some common barriers to, effective communication in the healthcare setting. It involves many interpersonal skills such as effective observation, questioning and listening, giving feedback, recognizing and removing barriers.
In order to provide the best possible care for the patients in their care nurses should determine the most effective and accurate handover. Therefore, Analizing the level of data retained or lost from employing different handover methods is crucial.
A weakness in communication between interdisciplinary team members can impact patient safety and health . A recent study revealed that out of all the claims analyzed , 57 percent of malpractice cases reflected miscommunication between two or more healthcare providers (Riah, 2015). In fact, the same communication failures directly linked to 1,744 deaths over the past five years (Budryk, 2016). During my clinical placement this semester I have witnessed the overwhelming number of health care team members that are involved in each patient’s care. I also take part in morning nursing rounds where all nurses are updated on every patient’s status. Transmission of permanent patient information is also relayed to all members of the health team via the patient chart .Here , interdisciplinary notes all come together to form updated health information on patients. However, although I have read interdisciplinary notes from all team members , I rarely have had the opportunity to personally communicate with members other than doctors and nurses. Personal communication allows for a team member to pass on relevant information in a timely manner without the possibility or misinterpretations. When communication is strictly done non-verbally, it is impossible to ask any questions.. This is why communication between professionals in health care is essential for patient safety and improved quality of care (Koivunen, Niemi., & Hupli,2015). There are 3 main factors that cause miscommunication