Experiences of handovers between shifts among nurses in small and medium‐sized hospitals: A focus‐group study

Abstract

Nursing handovers represent an important and complex form of communication in healthcare organizations that involve the exchange of patient-related information between nurses. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to identify the intershift handover experiences among nurses working in small and medium-sized hospitals.Focus-group interviews were conducted with 30 nurses who directly participated in patient care in such hospitals in South Korea. The reporting of the study findings adhered to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Under the main theme of "baton touch in a relay," 6 categories, 17 subcategories, and 45 codes (concepts) were derived. The six categories were "procedural rituals for shifts," "nonstandardized handover training," "inconsistent handover style," "stress due to handovers," "coping strategies for handovers," and "interruptions of handovers."Nurses in small and medium-sized hospitals strive to improve the quality of handovers by preparing individual-level coping strategies under difficult conditions. This indicates that standardized handover education strategies need to be developed for nurses that are suitable for the personnel systems of small and mediumsized hospitals.

Effects of Communication Skills and Organisational Communication Satisfaction on Self-Efficacy for Handoffs among Nurses in South Korea

“…Nevertheless, some findings were comparable and consistent with ours, indicating that the more positive the relationship between incoming and outgoing nurses, the better the quality of handoff perceived by nurses [32,33]. Furthermore, in the nursing environment, which is dominated by a rigid and hierarchical atmosphere in South Korea, peer-to-peer communication satisfaction can help nurses feel psychological support and reduce handoff anxiety [34,35]. Our findings are aligned with other studies in cultural contexts similar to that of hospitals in South Korea; several novice nurses in Hong Kong felt more nervous when reporting to senior nurses, who were more experienced and often experienced difficulties communicating with their seniors during the handoffs [17].…”