Nurses ’ Perceived Barriers to Bedside Handover and Their Implication for Clinical Practice

ABSTRACT Background and RationaleBedside handover during the change of shift allows nurses to visualize patients and facilitate patient participation, both purported to improve patient safety. But, bedside handover does not always occur and when it does, it may not involve the patient. AimTo explore and understand barriers nurses perceive in undertaking bedside handover. MethodsA cross‐sectional survey was administered to 200 nurses working on medical wards, recruited from two Australian hospitals, one private and one public. As part of the survey, there was one open‐ended question asking about perceived barriers to bedside handover. Content analysis was used to analyze data. Barriers were assessed using a determinant framework. ResultsThe open‐ended question was answered by 176 (88%) participants. Three categories were identified. First, censoring the message showed nurses were concerned about patients and third‐parties hearing sensitive information. In the second category, disrupting the communication flow, nurses perceived patients, family members, other nurses and external sources, interrupted the flow of handover and increased its duration. Finally, inhibiting characteristics demonstrated that individual patient and nurse views or capabilities hindered bedside handover. Barriers to bedside handover were determined to relate to individual nurse factors, patient factors, social, political and legal factors, and guideline factors. Linking Evidence to ActionSuggestio...
Source: Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing - Category: Nursing Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research