Clinical Handover and Patient Communication Improvement Report

This report delves into the critical aspects of clinical handover and patient communication, emphasizing the importance of efficient information transfer between healthcare professionals and patients. It begins by outlining the aims of improved communication and provides evidence supporting the need for its enhancement, highlighting the relevance of clinical governance and its seven pillars. The report identifies key stakeholders, including patients, practitioners, and the organization, and their respective roles in ensuring effective communication. It then explores clinical practice improvement tools, such as systems, reliability, testing changes, and measurement, to assess and refine clinical practices. The proposed interventions focus on risk management, immunization, and staff training, with a discussion on potential barriers to implementation like staffing issues, data loss, environmental distractions, and receiver attitude. The report concludes with an evaluation of the project, emphasizing the time-consuming nature of the process while acknowledging the importance of patient safety and healthcare quality.

Clinical Practice

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. Aim and Evidence that the issue is worth solving.......................................................................1
2. Relevance of Clinical Governance ..............................................................................................1
3.Key stakeholders...........................................................................................................................3
4. Clinical Practice Improvement Tool...........................................................................................4
5. Summary of the proposed interventions......................................................................................5
6. Barriers to implementation .........................................................................................................6
7. Evaluation of the project..............................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Clinical practices are considered as the statements which can be any suggestions,
recommendations which further provides an assessment of the benefits as well as harms of the
practices (Berney and et.al, 2013). It can include various practices and strategies that can be used
for the overall improvement of the system, thus maintaining an efficient clinical handover and
well communication within the practitioners and with the patients as well. The report includes
the various methods and ways by which the communication between the patients and the clinical
handover can be improved.
1. Aim and Evidence that the issue is worth solving
To investigate ways for achieving an efficient patient communication and clinical
handover.
An efficient communication between the previous and current practitioner, and also with
the patient acts as an effective tool in providing better care to the patient. Any
miscommunication between any of these can lead to severe errors which can be of high costs as
well. It is the responsibility of the previous practitioner to provide well and complete
information of the patient to the current one (Henderson and et.al, 2010). This will help the
current clinician to understand the issue well, so that the patient can be provided with the well
and suitable treatment. Efficient teamwork can help in achieving the goal faster. The problem is
worth solving as it is concerned with the safety of the patients first, then on the achievement of
goals of the practitioners. The process of clinical handover provides an efficient interaction
between the practitioners or nurses along wit the patients. A poor or inefficient clinical handover
can make a sort of discontinuity with the patient and can also cause various medical errors. So, it
is worth focusing as it ensures the safety of the patient along wit it, maintains the continuity
between the nurse and the patient.
2. Relevance of Clinical Governance
Clinical governance is considered as an organised way for maintaining and modifying (if
necessary) the standards of handling and taking care of the patients. There are seven pillars of
clinical governance that have been used for delivering the quality care to the patients. These
includes involvement of the public, clinical adults, management for the risk factors and the staff,
training and development, clinical efficacy along with the data and information. Usually,
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documented systems have been used by the authorities and the clinical leaders for a structured
clinical handover (Passey and et.al, 2010). An effective and accurate clinical handover can help
in minimizing the communication gap between the health experts, thus helps in maintaining the
patient care and safety measures. Out of all the seven pillars, the suitable pillars for an efficient
patient communication and clinical handover are discussed as under :
(Source : Clinical governance, 2017)
Risk management can be considered as the most relevant pillar in case of the
communication with the patient and the clinical handover because a small mistake can lead the
patient, doctor or the whole organisation in big troubles. The consideration of the following is
discussed as below:
To Patients
The clinical experts should be sure and done with all the necessary rules and regulations
which can help in reducing the risk rate of the patient. The patient should also cooperate with the
expert completely, so tat there must be no communication gap between the both. It will help the
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Illustration 1: Pillars of clinical governance

expert to understand the problem in a much better way than that of what explained by the
previous nurse or expert.
To Practitioners
The experts should ensure the fact that they are well immunised against any infectious
diseases so that the patients do not get affected or infected by them. When they will be fine, they
would be able to treat the patients better and without any disturbance (Gonsalvez and Milne,
2010). It will help the practitioners in improving and practising more their skills, thus help the
patients for a better treatment.
To the organisations
For ensuring the health and safety features of the patients as well as practitioners, the
organisation must first ensure to maintain its own quality services by providing efficient and
standard quality services and practices to the management. Poor quality of the services of the
hospital can lead the organisation in great troubles as there is a huge concern for the health and
safety measures of the patient. The organisation has the whole responsibility of the patient till the
time when they are in. The cleanliness and the safety also remains in the hands of the
organisation and it is to be maintained properly for efficient outcomes and better treatment for
the patients.
3. Key stakeholders
The people who are involved in this practice can be the patients, practitioners and the
organisation. Their roles and responsibilities can be discussed as under :
Patients
The actual role of the patients is that they should ensure well communication with the
practitioner so that they also may be able to know about the problem more deeply than the
medical reports. Well interaction between the both is necessary as it clears out any doubt
between them and helps in a better treatment procedure (Berney and et.al, 2013).
Practitioner
The previous practitioner has the responsibility of delivering well and sufficient
information of the details of the patient to the current practitioner. The same way, the current
practitioner holds the responsibility of understanding it in an efficient way so that they may be
able to understand the problem well and then can take proper care like that of the previous
practitioner.
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Organisation
The organisation holds the responsibility of providing proper services to the practitioners
so that they may be able to understand the issues of the patients well and can learn how to deal
with them. Any mistake from the practitioners or the organisation can lead them to troubles
(Passey and et.al, 2010).
4. Clinical Practice Improvement Tool
The Clinical Practice Improvement (CPI) is considered as a framework where the
practitioners can undergo an inclusive diagnostic of the factors of process failures which can lead
to in effective and in accurate measures. These tools helps in measuring the specific clinical
practices. It can be implemented anywhere in the organisation where these practices have been
measured. There are four types of improvement tools that can be used for overall betterment of
the clinical practices. These are discussed as under :
Systems
It ensures the fact that the environment around the system is error free so that it can
prevent any sort of issues and thus helps in promoting the safety measures in the practice. The
organisation must be aware of the fact that the surroundings around them are clean and free of
any sort of interruptions and noise, so that the communication can be done eff\efficiently
between the practitioners and wit the patient (Elshaug and et.al, 2012).
Reliability
It considers the fact that whatever is happening, it is for the right path. The organisation
should provide proper practices to the practitioners so that they may be able to provide proper
care to the patient and they along with the patients can stay in a happier and healthier
environment.
Testing change
It means the system needs to be modified if it changes are necessary and are meant for
the effectiveness of the organisation. The changes must be checked before the operation using
the PDSA cycles. The PDSA means the plan, do, study and act factors which helps in the overall
testing of the whole procedure (Elwyn and et.al, 2012). The organisation can also follow the
same for a better testing. It can plan the practices first, them have a great research on it and after
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that can let it open for act. It will help the organisation in a better checking,. Thus making the
clinical handover more easy and effective so that the practitioners can be able to understand their
duties well and can help the patient in a better way.
Measurement
These tools helps in proceeding the application of accurate and efficient infection
prevention systems and then proceeds it to be measured. The practitioners should be aware of the
fact that utilization of these tools can help them in realising the systems for preventing any sort
of errors tat can prove harmful for the patients.
5. Summary of the proposed interventions
Out of the seven pillars, the most important pillars that was relevant for the clinical
handover is the risk management factors. These factors should be considered very important as a
small mistake of the nurse or the practitioner or of the organisation can lead the organisation in
great troubles. The practitioners should ensure the fact that they are must be well immunised
against any sort of illness or diseases. It will help them in a better understanding of the issues of
the patient, thus giving proper attention to them and providing them efficient care. The
organisation itself should be ensure that it is providing all the necessary training and
development to the practitioners that they might not face any sort of difficulty in dealing with the
patients and thus giving them efficient care and treatment (Elwyn and et.al, 2012). Also, the
organisation should be ensure the fact that they are providing well cleanliness and safety
measures to the patients as well as the practitioners. It will automatically help the organisation in
achieving their goals at a faster rate, thus helping the patients as well in recovering from the
illness or diseases. The practitioners should also be aware of all the rules and regulations for an
efficient clinical handover. This is because any single mistake can lead the organisation as well
as the practitioners in trouble.
6. Barriers to implementation
There can be various barriers while the implementation of the clinical handover and they
are discussed as under :
Locating Appropriate Staff
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In locating the appropriate staff, identification of efficient staff is necessary.
Quality of handover
The way the previous nurse or practitioner has handles the details of the patient matters a
lot. All the information regarding the history of the patient along with the current scenario is
essential to be informed to the current nurse or practitioner. If there occurs any loss of data, then
it can lead to various other problems (Gonsalvez and Milne, 2010).
Environmental Issues
It can also be considered as one of the biggest issue. Surroundings which includes noisy
and other interruptions can act as a barrier for the clinical handover. It can cause many
disruptions during the communication between the patient and the practitioner. Also, it can cause
troubles in the treatment procedure.
Poor receiver
The receiver at the other end, means the one who is being provided wit all the details by
the previous practitioner may have a negative attitude towards it. They might not be that
interested in receiving and understanding the details of the patient. They might be busy in some
other work that they do not seem that much interested in understanding the condition of the
patient.
7. Evaluation of the project
The pillar used for a well communication between the practitioners and with the patient is
considered here as the risk management factor. Out of all the seven pillars of the clinical
practices, it was relevant enough to solve the issues regarding the clinical handover. They were
categorised in therms for the patient, practitioner and organisation as well. The advantages of it
can be determined as all the three bodies are concerned enough for their roles and regulations,
but the process can act quite time consuming as well (Elshaug and et.al, 2012). Providing proper
practices to the practitioners and managing the health and safety of the patients, together is a
tough job to do. But the method can help the organisation and practitioners in achieving their
goals, thus providing proper care to the patients.
CONCLUSION
From the report, it was concluded that the clinical practices includes the
recommendations as well as statements that provides the information about the benefits as well
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as other factors of implementing the practices. Out of all the pillars, the pillar relevant for the
effective clinical handover is considered as the risk management factor. It can help the patient,
practitioner and the organisation in achieving an understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Berney, S. and et.al., 2013. Inthensive care unit mobility practices in Australia and New Zealand:
a point prevalence study. Critical Care and Resuscitation. 15(4). pp.260-265.
Elshaug, A. G. and et.al., 2012. Over 150 pothentially low-value health care practices: an
Australian study. The Medical Journal of Australia. 197(10). pp.556-560.
Elwyn, G. and et.al., 2012. Shared decision making: a model for clinical practice. Journal of
general inthernal medicine. 27(10). pp.1361-1367.
Gonsalvez, C. J. and Milne, D. L., 2010. Clinical supervisor training in Australia: A review of
current problems and possible solutions. Australian Psychologist. 45(4). pp.233-242.
Grealish, L. and Anne Smale, L., 2011. Theory before practice: Implicit assumptions about
clinical nursing education in Australia as revealed through a shared critical
reflection. Conthemporary Nurse. 39(1). pp.51-64.
Henderson, A. and et.al., 2010. Creating supportive clinical learning environments: an
inthervention study. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 19(1‐2). pp.177-182.
Lukas, C.V. And et.al., 2010. Strengthening organizations to implement evidence-based clinical
practices. Health care management review. 35(3). pp.235-245.
Passey, M. and et.al., 2010. Assessment and management of lifestyle risk factors in rural and
urban general practices in Australia. Australian Journal of Primary Health. 16(1). pp.81-86.
Standring, S. ed., 2015. Gray's Anatomy E-Book: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Online
Clinical governance. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://howlingpixel.com/wiki/Clinical_governance>. [Accessed on 4th October 2017].
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