Aim and objective To explore nurses' perceptions of factors that help or hinder intra‐hospital handover. Background Miscommunication during clinical handover is a leading cause of clinical incidents in hospitals. Intra‐hospital nursing handover between the emergency department and inpatient unit is particularly complex. Design A descriptive, qualitative study. This research adheres to the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research. Methods Forty‐nine nurses participated in group interviews, which were analysed using inductive content analysis. Results Three categories emerged: (a) “lacking clear responsibilities for who provides handover”; (b) “strategies to ensure continuity of information”; and (c) “strained relationships during handover.” Conclusions Intra‐hospital handover requires clear processes, to promote high‐quality information sharing. Ensuring these processes are broad and acceptable across units may ensure nurses' needs are met. Relational continuity between nurses is an important consideration when improving intra‐hospital handover. Relevance to clinical practice Nursing managers are optimally positioned to enhance intra‐hospital handover, by liaising and enforcing standardisation of processes across units. Nurse managers could promote intra‐unit activities that foster front‐line nurses' communication with each other, to encourage problem‐solving and partnerships.

Aims To describe the characteristics of hospital‐based, patient‐mediated interventions and their impact on patient, clinician and organization outcomes. Design Systematic review. Data Sources Health literature databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE) were searched in August 2021. Backward and forward citation searching was conducted. Review Methods Studies investigating patient‐mediated interventions, targeted at adult hospitalized patients were eligible. Data were extracted related to study and intervention characteristics. Narrative synthesis was used to understand intervention impact on patient, clinician and organization outcomes (as per a framework). Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool. Results Thirty‐three studies, reporting 18 interventions, were included. Twelve interventions prompted patients to report health information about their own health/needs/concerns and six interventions encouraged patients to provide feedback about clinical practice. Across all interventions, there was evidence that patients used patient‐mediated interventions and that they may improve patient communication. Healthcare professional outcomes were mixed for actual/intended use, acceptability and usefulness of interventions; yet there was some evidence of healthcare professional behaviour change. Interventions that encouraged patients to report health information about their own health/needs/concerns appeared more successful than other types of interventions. Conclusions There is some evidence that hospital‐based patient‐mediated interventions may influence patient communication and healthcare professional behaviour. Patient‐mediated interventions that encourage patients to report patient data before a clinical encounter may be more impactful than interventions that encourage patient feedback during or post‐encounter. Impact To date, most patient‐mediated intervention research has been conducted in primary care settings; we uncovered the types of patient‐mediated interventions that have been trialled in hospitals. We found that patient communication and healthcare professional behaviour may be influenced by these patient‐mediated interventions. Future researchers could explore the suitability and effectiveness of a wider range of hospital‐based patient‐mediated interventions. No patient or public contribution There was no funding to remunerate a patient/member of the public for this review.

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