Patient handover in the emergency department: ‘how’ is as important as ‘what’

Patient handover, a high-risk often overlooked activity, plays an integral part in safe patient care. Patient handover is a complex process involving multiple functions [1]. The most important function is communicating information and transferring responsibility and accountability from one healthcare professional to another [1 –3]. Accurately transferring information assures the safe transition of health care from one professional to another [4,5].

Source: International Emergency Nursing - September 26, 2017 Category: Nursing Authors: Santel de Lange, Ilze van Eeden, Tanya Heyns Source Type: research