Nursing Handoffs and Patient Outcomes

Handoffs are essentially crucial elements that serve various functions including social bonding, team building, and coaching and teaching. In the health care setting, nursing handoffs play an important role with regards to information processing i.e. ensuring that essential information is transferred for patient safety. This implies that nursing handoffs are important in maintaining continuity of care during a patient's stay in a health care facility. Handoffs act as communication links between the various medical personnel or professionals providing patient care.

Despite their significance in continuity of care and ensuring patient safety, nursing handoffs have recently been characterized by errors, care omissions, inefficiencies, increased costs, increased hospital stay, preventable re-hospitalizations, and unsuitable treatment (Halm, 2013, p.158). This is primarily because they are carried out in a substandard manner or are variable handoffs. This is major issue that requires examination in order to identify suitable measures for improving nursing handoffs with the aim of improving patient safety and promoting continuity of care.

Statement of the Problem and Purpose of Study Variable or substandard nursing handoffs have contributed to several issues that affect patient safety and the quality of treatment. These kinds of nursing handoffs are brought by several inefficiencies and communication problems during the process. Therefore, the critical issue or problem is why inadequate nursing handoffs continue to take place regardless of its devastating impacts on patient care. The purpose of this study is to develop effective measures for improving nursing handoffs in order to enhance patient care and outcomes.

This study will entail examining the major issues that contribute to substandard or variable handoffs, impact of inadequate nursing handoffs, and suitable measures for improving these handoffs. Research Question The research question for the study is, "What are the major causes of substandard nursing handoffs and how can they be prevented?" This question will be examined on the premise that the modern healthcare setting has been characterized by problems in handoffs despite the evolution and increased specialization of health care processes (Friesen, White & Byers, 2008).

Moreover, the evolution and increased specialization of modern healthcare has generated significant challenges for effective communication, which affect nursing handoffs. Hypothesis: Research and Null The research question will be examined by testing two research hypotheses and null hypothesis. The two research hypotheses that will be tested in the study are Hypothesis 1: Inadequate nursing handoffs are brought by factors in the health system. Hypothesis 2: Nursing handoffs challenges can be dealt with to enhance patient care.

During the study, the researcher will address this null hypothesis: there is no variation in patient outcomes following the implementation of effective or standard nursing handoffs. This will be addressed by examining patient outcomes with regards to improved health after addressing the issues in nursing handoffs. Operational Variables The independent variable in this study is the healthcare system because it is not affected.