The effectiveness of bedside handovers: A multilevel, longitudinal study of effects on nurses and patients

Abstract

Aims To investigate the effectiveness of bedside handovers. For nurses, effects on nurse–patient communication, individualized care, coordination of the care process, job satisfaction, intention to leave, patient participation and work interruptions were measured. For patients, effects on patient activation, individualized care and quality of care were measured. Design This is a longitudinal, controlled, multicentred study on 13 nursing wards in five hospitals. The seven interventional wards consisted of two medical rehabilitation, two geriatric and three surgical/medical wards. Methods A questionnaire for patients and nurses at baseline (May–June 2016), 3 (July–August 2017) and 9 months (December 2017–January 2018) after implementation was completed by 799 patients and 165 nurses. Per protocol analysis was used in combination with linear mixed models analysis. Results With exception for work interruptions and patient participation for nurses, no overall effects could be found for both patients and nurses. For nurses, patient participation increased, and work interruptions decreased in the intervention group. Individualized care remained stable in the intervention group, whereas it decreased in the control group. Conclusion The results indicate that bedside handover can be regarded as superior to more commonly used handover models as it enhances patient participation and decreases work interruptions. However, the positive image of bedside handovers, mostly based on observational, short‐term and single‐centred experiences, cannot be confirmed as there were no effects on any of the other measured parameters. As bedside handovers put patient participation on the agenda and negative effects are absent, implementing bedside handovers should be considered a mean for more patient‐centeredness instead of a goal itself.

Nurses’ Adherence to Patient Safety Principles: A Systematic Review

“…The assigned participation task should be communicated appropriately to the patient, have congruity with patients' knowledge of nursing routines and their own implementation capacity, as well as be incorporated into routine care with the consideration of infrastructures and healthcare missions [14,54,55]. It has been suggested that planning and performing nursing care at the patient's bedside can improve patient participation, reduce work interruptions [56], and consequently improve nurses' adherence to safe care guidelines [11].…”

Psychosocial and Motor Characteristics of Patients With Hypermobility

“…The diagnosis for hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is clinical and considers the presence of criteria ( 6 , 7 ) including a spectrum of phenotypes, ranging from asymptomatic condition, non-syndromic JH, to hEDS, and HSD. In 2019, Copetti et al ( 8 ) explored the clinical ramifications of hEDS and HSD and grouped these conditions into a single phenotype termed hEDS/HSD and considered severity in class distinction.…”

Development and psychometric testing of the patient participation in bedside handover survey

“…Currently, the efficiency of one type of handover over another (i.e., bedside handover, tape‐recorded handover, verbal handover and written handover) is yet to be established 47 . However, quantitative research measuring bedside handover effectiveness is starting to emerge, showing that while bedside handover influenced nurses' recognition of patient participation, patients did not experience any effects; however, surveys used measured patient empowerment, quality of care and individualized care 48 . Thus, ‘evaluation of patient participation in bedside handover’ is an important factor in our survey because it directly measures outcomes related to patient participation in bedside handover and could assist in building evidence of outcomes.…”