Communication between staff members in hospitals is a topic that has been studied and practiced in great detail. One particular concern has always been the handoff: when a one staff member leaves a shift and another comes in. How do you ensure that all critical information gets passed along-and is understood-to ensure patient safety?
An interesting article from HealthLeaders Media, written by Sarah Kearns, explains how one hospital addressed the problem. In October 2008, Riverside Methodist Hospital (RMH) in Columbus, OH, started changing its handoff process to address these questions. Sheryl Tripp, MSN, RN-BC, nurse manager for the gynecology/gynecology-oncology surgical unit, was approached by her staff members to change the process.
Instead of using tape recorders to create patient reports, nurses would actually spend the time to speak with the new nurse coming in at the bedside in front of the patient. A month into the new process, a survey revealed that the new process was well received by nurses, who reported that they were now clocking out on time and patients reported being more comfortable in the hospital because of a better understanding of what was happening.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:17 am
This is not a new concept but has been touted by Quint Studer and others for a number of years. It does work and should be utilized but we need to give credit to theose who postulated the concept from the beginning.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:13 am
How does this hospital deal with confidentiality issues related to giving patient report at the bedside when there is more than one patient in a room? Or are these single rooms?
January 19th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
We too would like to know how others are dealing with this confidentiality issue. We are a 25 - CAH with all double rooms. Any ideas would be appreciated.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
My hospital uses nurse to nurse reporting as our hand off technique. The reoprt is given at the nurse server which is outside of the patient room, right next to the door. When handing off patients with IVs both nurses go in to the room to look at the settings after report is completed in order to ensure the settings are correct. Also, the unit is closed to visitors during report in order to maintain patient confidentiality.