Aim Different designs of electronic hand‐off systems might have different levels of effectiveness; this study validated the effectiveness of systems with an Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (ISBAR) design to one without such a design. Background Adverse consequences in hospital commonly occur when there are breakdowns in the transmission of information between team members. To ensure information accuracy and consistency, some Taiwan hospitals implemented electronic hand‐off systems. However, the effectiveness of such systems was not investigated. Methods A quasi‐experiment was conducted to the nurses of two Taiwan case hospitals, one with ISBAR and the other with non‐ISBAR design systems and 200 questionnaires were used to collect data. Results The respondent rate was 72%. Using system with ISBAR design, nurses can enhance their communication effectiveness and further increase their individual benefits at hand‐off. Using a non‐ISBAR hand‐off system, communication effectiveness depends solely on the nurses’ individual cognitive and expressive ability. Conclusion System with ISBAR design can ensure effective information transmission among nurses for care continuity and prevention of adverse events. Implications for Nursing Management Ensuring the design of electronic systems is adequate, nursing managers can save nurses’ time and effort while using the system to perform their regular work effectively and gain competitive advantage.

Family members of intensive care unit patients are often experience high anxiety and require more information about the patients. However, most Taiwanese healthcare institutions currently face manpower shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the task of providing additional services to meet family members’ needs and relieve their stress was deferred by some healthcare institutions. The self-service system, known to be effective and efficient in other industries, was recommended for use in the healthcare industry. This study aims to explore an intensive care unit self-service system (ICU-SSS) designed for the family members of ICU patients. This study investigates the feasibility of the system by following a mixed method approach, including qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey. Firstly, interviews with five family members and five ICU staff members of a case hospital were conducted to identify the need to develop an ICU-SSS for the family member. Secondly, a survey was completed by 30 family members to evaluate the system. The interview results reveal nine categories of family members’ needs and the survey results show that the ICU family members assigned acceptable scores to all the ICU-SSS functions, except the importance of “Logistical information”. Based on these findings, the scientific and practical implications are discussed.