Use Of Effective And Efficient Communication

In every profession there are changes that propel how tasks are done; nursing is no stranger to this. One of the biggest changes that have come into nursing’s daily events is how report hand-offs are being done. Gone are the days of taped report that each off going nurse must tape about each patient and the oncoming nurse must listen to. Nurses are now being encouraged to move their report to the bedside, in front of the patient (Trossman, 2007). It is very important to know how this can affect the patient and even the nurse’s schedule. With every change, there are positives and negatives that can finalize the decision to keep or forego

End of shift reports between nurses has been an important process in clinical nursing practice. Allowing nurses to exchange vital patient information to ensure continuity of care and patient safety. Therefore, the chance of potential communication gaps causing an error is high. According to the Joint Commission, communication is the primary cause of medical errors, with handoffs accounting for 80% of these errors [ (Zhani, 2012) ]. The most commonly practiced model of report takes place in the staff room, at the nurses’ station, or other locations away

Traditionally, nursing shift-to-shift reports were organized methods of communication between only the oncoming and leaving nurse, designated to a location such as the central nursing station or nook of a hallway. Shift reports can be considered the foundation of how the day is going to plan out because it introduces the patient, diagnoses, complications, medications, consults, upcoming test and the entire plan of care. These reports are full of complicated and vital information and while set in certain locations that are vulnerable to interruptions, such as the nursing station, medical errors and miscommunication are more likely to be made. The Joint Commission’s 2009 and 2010 National Patient Safety Goals (Joint Commission, 2015) included two patient safety standards, first to encourage patients to be involved in their health care plan and second, to implement a standardized communication process for handoff reports between providers. Soon after in 2013, The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality under the United States Department of Health and Human Services introduced a set of strategies to improve patient engagement along with safety and quality in patient care. Within these strategies the new method of nurse bedside shift report was developed, which suggests nurses to conduct shift-to-shift reports at bedside in the room of each patient, rather than out of the room. The benefits of this new method were

This study evaluated if changing the process of shift handover from traditional form conducted in an off stage area to handover at the bedside could lead to improved safety for patients and cost reductions by shortening the duration of handover. The researchers also examined staff perceptions and satisfaction with the traditional method of handover versus th

Bedside reporting involves giving information or a report to the oncoming nurse in the presence of a patient. This method gives the patient an opportunity to ask questions and get clarification regarding his or her care. Bedside reporting increases patient satisfaction, quality of healthcare and nurse-to-nurse responsibility. Hospitals need to design a better handoff process that can easily reduce patient risks and increase patients’ involvement in their care. Emergency rooms shift reports usually take place at the nursing station of every patient care area. The departing nurse gives information verbally to the oncoming shift. Therefore,

Nursing handoffs is a type of report between two clinicians that are responsible for patients care and is an important part of transferring patient information (what, how, who and where) from one healthcare provider to another in clinical practice (Smith and Schub, 2014). Ineffective, inconsistent and incongruent communication during these handoffs continues to be a problem and a threat to patient safety. Effective handoffs are instrumental in providing for the successful quality of care that the patient is to receive (Abraham, Kannampallil & Patel, 2013). Medical errors, treatment delays, inappropriate treatment and/or care omissions can happen as a result of miscommunication during handoffs which could potentially lead to patient harm, longer stays, readmissions and/or increased costs.

The author made a problem statement that bedside nursing report is not persistence in nursing care and there is limited research to investigate. The author’s questions are specifically related to the concern of bedside clinical handover that needs to be addressed in healthcare organization, investigate patients’ opinions to help nurses become aware of patients’ needs and increase their skill in clinical bedside handover practice. Using qualitative research methodology to interview, explore, and observe patients’ experience will help the researchers to answer the research questions. Obviously, exploring the patients’ opinion of bedside nursing handover is a key to recognize patients’ perspective to provide for their needs in order to continue patient safety care and

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,

This team will utilize a standardized communication handoff tool when reporting changes to the multidisciplinary team members. understand the importance of communicating changes, upon identification in a timely manner in other to improve patient safety and quality of care.

Bedside shift report is the process of completing patient handoff at the bedside with the oncoming

Communication breakdown is among the leading cause of medical errors such as gaps in health care, incomplete or missing information, and medication errors. Most importantly, communication supports the foundation of patient care. According to The Joint Commission (formerly Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations [JCAHO]) improved communication among nurses during shift changes reduces injuries due to medical errors by 30 percent. So, hand-off reporting during shift change is a critical process that is crucial in protecting a patient’s safety. Throughout the hand-off report, it is vital to provide accurate, up-to- date and pertinent information to the oncoming nurse. An estimate of 80 percent of the most serious medical

This systemic review was completed to evaluate articles that discussed nursing handoff. 95 articles met the inclusion criteria and 20 of those articles involved research on nursing handoffs. A Quality Scoring System went on to assess each article with scores ranging from 1 to 16. “Quality assessment scores for the 20 research studies ranged from 2 to 12” (Riesenberg et al, 2010, p. 28). This goes to show us that there is a lack of high-quality articles on the subject matter of nursing handoff. From this article the reader can also learn about barriers and strategies of effective handoff in more depth.

Communication is very important when it comes to the information that nurses are given when treating a patient. If there is not good communication between nurses, especially between shifts and handoffs, consequences can happen, including the possibility of a sentinel event. According to Yoost and Crawford, 70% of the sentinel events that happened in 2005 were due to communication breakdown, with communication breakdowns during handoffs being the reason behind 50% of these events (p.137). There are different ways that nurses can handoff information to another nurse, with bedside report being one of the ways that is suggested to reduce the amount of communication errors. This paper will explain what makes bedside report safer for the patients

Recommendations The authors showed that the article revealed that implementing bedside shift report is needed at the patient bedside and within institutions. The nurse can impact and be a mediator between the patient, MD and care that is given. The recommendations are to use bedside shift report but find that the different types or views of the nurse giving report needs to be included and further reviewed. The article states that (Smeulers, Lucas, & Vermeulen, (2014) reduced errors are needed over all for patient safety, written bedside shift report should be improved not just copied and better communication between nurse to nurse and MD to nurse.

According to the Bradley and Mott (2012), study report about the bedside handover outcomes, completed in South Australia, they reported a huge reduction in patient safety incidents such as burns, medication errors, skin tear and falls after applying a bedside nursing report. If nurses are doing shift report somewhere in conference room or nursing station, there are not no one to attempt the patient call light, patients are almost themselves and patient needs are not met. During this time, there is a big change for patient incidents. Bedside sift report decreases falls, more promote response to patient calls and reduction of patient call light use. Present handoff practices include face to face in a private setting, group report, telephone report, and verbal reports