Standardized nursing handoffs and their impact on patient safety outcomes

Nursing Handoffs: Ensuring Safe Passage for Patients. American Journal of Critical Care, 22(2), 158-162.

The main purpose and scope of this study was to review the impact of standardized nursing handoffs on patients, clinicians, and financial outcomes. This review was carried out on the premise that nursing handoffs are developed to promote safe passage of information to enhance the effectiveness of initiatives of the nurse, which translates to improved continuity of care. The researcher conducted a limited search in MEDLINE and CINAHL of articles on nursing handoff within a 5-year period i.e. 2007 to 2012. Once these articles were identified, the researcher reviewed them on the basis of their relevance to the PICO question being examined. The study provides significant insights regarding the impact of nursing handoffs on clinicians, patients, and financial outcomes relative to patient care. Despite providing valuable insights, the observations or conclusions provided in the study cannot be generalized because of the limited review and the use of general terms in the search. However, the researcher concludes that nursing handoffs have positive effects on many clinical processes and outcomes. This study is essential because it provides insights on how nursing handoff can be utilized in family nursing to improve clinical processes and outcomes.

Riesenberg, L.A., Leisch, J. & Cunningham, J.M. (2010, April). Nursing Handoffs: A Systematic Review of the Literature. American Journal of Nursing, 110(4), 24-34.

The main purpose and scope of the study is to examine barriers to and strategies for effective nursing handoffs while identifying characteristics of effective structured handoffs. The study was carried out on the premise that nursing handoffs are integral in nursing practice though there is numerous evidence that insufficient handoffs are brought by poor communication and variable processes. As a result, a systematic review of studies published between 1987 and 2008 focusing on the process of nursing handoffs was conducted. While the employed search strategy generated more than 2,500 articles, 460 of them were utilized in the review after title review. They found that even though there are numerous consequences of inadequate nursing handoffs, there is very minimal research that focuses on determining best practices and suitable strategies for effective handoffs. The shortcoming of the research is limitation of the search to English-language articles only. However, the study concluded that very little research has been carried out though several strategies have been recommended towards effective handoffs but with no supporting evidence. The study's findings generate the need for extensive examination of recommended best practices in nursing handoffs for a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Staggers, N. & Blaz, J.W. (2012, June 2). Research on Nursing Handoffs for Medical and Surgical Settings: An Integrative Review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69(2), 247-262.

The main purpose and scope of this study is to integrate research findings on handoffs in order to inform future computerization of this procedure on surgical and medical departments. The researchers have conducted the study on the basis that nursing handoffs can generate significant information gaps, errors, and omissions during patient care. As a result, they postulate that computerization of these processes would help in lessening the errors though there is lack of existing literature that could guide computerization. For this study, the researchers utilized an integrative literature review, which entailed identifying credible databases in the nursing field. Once these databases were identified, an extensive search was carried out to collect appropriate and relevant articles for the study. They included articles published between 1980 and 2011 while excluding those outside clinical and surgical departments and those focusing on handoff education and nurses' views. They found that handoffs should be customized to nurses and their relevant needs since contextually-based handoffs are urgently needed. The shortcoming of this study is the lack of evidence in current literature regarding computerization of nursing handoffs. However, authors conclude that handoff computerization requires development of contextually-based handoffs. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, the study helps in gaining insights on how to enhance the process of handoffs through eliminating mistakes and information gaps using computerization.

Welsh, C.A., Flanagan, M.E. & Ebright, P. (2010). Barriers and Facilitators to Nursing Handoffs: Recommendations for Redesign. Nursing Outlook, 58(3), 148-154.