The information content of the nurse change of shift report: a comparative study

Abstract

The information content of the nurse change of shift report: a comparative study This study examines the role which the nursing change of shift report may have in aiding nurses to process information and plan care. It also aims to identify whether any of the information found in the shift report can be considered as 'forceful feature' information, the key features of a situation which allow an individual to access appropriate knowledge within their long-term memory store. The content of the medical notes, nursing documentation and shift reports for a total of 60 patients, selected from two acute medical and two acute surgical wards across two National Health Service Hospital Trusts in south-east England were subjected to content analysis. The types and amount of information contained in each source were examined, along with the order of information given in the shift reports. A multidimensional scalogram analysis (MSA) was also carried out on the data to examine the patterns of information content across sources. In general, more information was recorded in the patients' notes than communicated during the shift report. However, both the frequency data and the MSA plots indicated that particular types of information (identified here as global judgements) were often communicated in the shift report but not recorded in the patient notes. The results suggest that there is evidence that the change of shift report contains 'forceful feature' information. The presence of such 'forceful features' may facilitate the processing of patient information during the shift report communication, leading to more efficient care planning.

The importance of the verbal shift handover report: A multi-site case study

“…For example, in the nursing shift handovers in case site 1 (general medical), we observed the use of general statements, what have been described as 'global judgments' [20], about a patient's condition:…”

“…In many ways, the content of handovers has been found to be partial, with the use of abbreviations and jargon [14,19], missing key information such as the patient's current clinical condition [8], and containing 'global judgments', evaluations that are non-specific in nature [20]. Factors associated with increased content of the verbal handover include familiarity with the patient, sense of responsibility for the patient, presence of senior staff, and comprehensive handover documentation [8].…”

“…A range of practices exist for gathering information into written form in preparation for the handover [21][22][23][24]. However, important information may be provided verbally in the handover that is not recorded anywhere else [13,15,18,20].…”

Estudio de eventos adversos, factores y periodicidad en pacientes hospitalizados en unidades de cuidado intensivo

“…Lamond 27 refiere que este evento adverso ocurre cuando se carece de una base metodológica que sustente los principios de la atención y que faciliten la organización de la información y el reconocimiento del momento oportuno para la prestación del cuidado. sedoanalgesia y la aplicación de protocolos que permitan manejar oportunamente los estados de agitación que ponen en riesgo al paciente.…”

Understanding best practice within nurse intershift handover: what suits palliative care?

“…Researchers have considered intershift handover across a number of nursing inpatient contexts, including accident and emergency, medical, surgical, elderly and mental health environments (Lamond, 2000;Timonen and Sihvenen, 2000;Payne et al, 2000;Dowding, 2001;Bourne, 2000;Currie, 2002). However, consideration of handover within a palliative care inpatient context is limited and only two papers consider the needs of palliative care in a generalist setting (Kelly, 1999;Hopkinson, 2002).…”