Nursing Assignment: Strategies for Effective Clinical Handover

This report addresses the critical issue of poor communication in clinical handover within healthcare settings, focusing on strategies to improve patient safety and the efficiency of care transitions. The assignment emphasizes the importance of education and training for medical professionals on effective communication techniques and structured protocols, such as ISBAR, to ensure clear and concise information transfer. The report also highlights the role of employee satisfaction surveys in gathering feedback on handover processes, alongside the use of incident reports to identify areas for improvement. Furthermore, the report underscores the value of performance appraisal meetings in monitoring and reinforcing effective communication practices. The report offers a detailed plan for ongoing monitoring, reporting, and planning for future improvements in clinical handover practices, to create a safer and more efficient healthcare environment.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT 1
Name
Assignment
Date

NURSING ASSIGNMENT 2
Question 5: Spread and sustaining improvement - how you might manage ongoing
monitoring, reporting and planning for future improvement.
Education and Training
Safe, effective, and reliable clinical handover relies on both the medical professional
transferring the patient information and the one receiving it (Eggins & Slade, 2015). However, it
is hard to expect both practitioners to effectively communicate if they are not afforded training
on the same. Hence, the first step would be to schedule regular training on effective clinical
handover communication strategies and frameworks.
According to Eggins and Slade (2015), training the medical practitioners on appropriate
clinical handover improves their self-confidence on the same and enhances their communication
skills. I would as such ensure that every provider knows the critical elements needed for an
explicit transfer such as diagnosis and current status, changes or anticipated modifications in
treatment or condition, what to monitor and frequency, and warnings to look out for, to ensure
they can effectively record and share the vital information during actual clinical shift changes.
Create a Structured Protocol
According to Eggins and Slade (2015), people who follow a structured and flexible
protocol have higher chances of clearly communicating complex information. Hence, I would
ensure that there is an evidence-based handover process on the notice board and in the offices.
The poster would address the ISBAR (identify, situation, background, assessment,
recommendation) intervention, to educate every provider on what constitutes a safe, effective,
and reliable change in shifts.
Satisfaction Survey

NURSING ASSIGNMENT 3
Another way to spread and sustain excellent communication skills is through employee
satisfaction surveys (Principe, 2018). Both the transferring and receiving medical professional
would be made to gauge the degree of information provided and received during transfers.
The survey should also constitute the type of information that healthcare provider think
they should receive, give, or look out for during a handover (Eggins & Slade, 2015). The survey
should also ask about what points of the transition process the employees consider robust or
inferior and a threat to patient safety. The acquired insights will go a long way to determining the
kind of changes needed to enhance communication during shift changeovers and the training that
is required.
Monitor Incident Reports
Incident management reports provide a simple and effective method of monitoring the
implemented interventions (Randmaa, Mårtensson, Swenne, & Engström, 2014). When there has
been an accident such as a near miss or death by neglect, the incident report will link all the
involved staff. If communication during a change in the shift was the problem, relevant
personnel should give an account. The information obtained from the incident reports would then
be used to identify the weak points in the process and the improvements needed.
Performance Appraisal Meeting
Lizarondo, Grimmer, and Kumar, (2014) associate performance evaluation with
improved outcomes and increased job satisfaction. For this case, performance appraisal would
seek to objectively monitor, assess, and communicate the effectiveness of current handover
practices from individual employees and inform on professional development plans needed to
reach optimum clinical handovers. During appraisal meetings, employees with excellent

NURSING ASSIGNMENT 4
communication skills would be recognized and encouraged, and those underperforming given a
roadmap for improvement (Lizarondo et al., 2014).

NURSING ASSIGNMENT 5
References
Eggins, S., & Slade, D. (2015). Communication in Clinical Handover: Improving the Safety and
Quality of the Patient Experience. Journal of Public Health Research, 4(3), 666.
doi:10.4081/jphr.2015.666
Lizarondo, L., Grimmer, K., & Kumar, S. (2014). Assisting allied health in performance
evaluation: a systematic review. BMC Health Services Research, 14, 572.
doi:10.1186/s12913-014-0572-7
Principe, I. C. (2018). Examining Nurse Satisfaction with a Bedside Handover Report Process.
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection.
Randmaa, M., Mårtensson, G., Swenne, C. L., & Engström, M. (2014). SBAR improves
communication and safety climate and decreases incident reports due to communication
errors in an anaesthetic clinic: a prospective intervention study. BMJ Open, 4(1),
e004268.