Nurse to Nurse Handoff Communication
In collaboration with the approved course preceptor, students will identify a specific evidence-based topic for the capstone project change proposal. Students should consider the clinical environment in which they are currently employed or have recently worked. The capstone project topic can be a clinical practice problem, an organizational issue, a leadership or quality improvement initiative, or an unmet educational need specific to a patient population or community. The student may also choose to work with an interprofessional collaborative team.
Students should select a topic that aligns to their area of interest as well as the clinical practice setting in which practice hours are completed.
Write a 500-750 word description of your proposed capstone project topic. Include the following:
1- The problem or issue, intervention, quality initiative, educational need, or collaborative interprofessional team project that will be the focus of the change proposal.
2- The setting or context in which the problem or issue, intervention, quality initiative, educational need, or collaborative interprofessional team project can be observed.
3- A description (providing a high level of detail) regarding the problem or issue, intervention, quality initiative, educational need, or collaborative interprofessional team project.
4- Effect of the problem or issue, intervention, quality initiative, educational need, or collaborative interprofessional team project.
5- Significance of the topic and its implications for nursing practice.
6- A proposed solution to the identified project topic with an explanation of how it will affect nursing practice.
You are required to cite to a minimum of eight peer-reviewed sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years, appropriate for the assignment criteria, and relevant to nursing practice. Plan your time accordingly to complete this assignment.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
Nurse to Nurse Handoff Communication
Student’s Name
Institution
Nurse to Nurse Handoff Communication
Project Topic for Focus of Change Proposal
Effective nurse-to-nurse hand-off communication in the surgery department is important, especially because it influences the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phases of surgery. According to Barbeito et al. (2018), nurse to nurse hand-off communication refers to transferring a patient, their medical information, medical equipment, and responsibility for care from one nurse to another. While working in the surgery department, one thing became clear; there is a need to improve patient hand-off communications. My capstone project change proposal examines and proposes recommendations for addressing this issue.
Setting/Context
Nurse-to-nurse hand-off communication is important in a perioperative setting, yet I observed that nurses in this setting have very poorly developed or non-existent hand-off reports. Effective hand-off communication in the perioperative settings is important because the patient moves from one nurse to another and from one care setting to another until they can be discharged from the hospital. The patient has to move from the emergency room or holding room to the operating room (OR), then from the OR to the post anesthesia care unit and/or intensive care unit (Barbeito et al., 2018). These care units have a high vulnerability to hand-off communication issues and can affect patient recovery (Methangkool et al., 2019).
Detailed Description
Ineffective nurse-to-nurse hand-off communication is characterized by communication breakdown during the transition of care from one nurse to another either due to shift or transfer to another care setting (Raeisi et al., 2019). Due to the high-risk nature of the perioperative settings, poor communication causes adverse events that are otherwise preventable. Further, the hand-offs are usually very brief, complicated, and regularly occur (Robinson, 2016). This increases the risk of error or loss of relevant patient information during the hand-off. Also, information can be misinterpreted, increasing the risk of error.
Additionally, nurses in the perioperative settings must combine nursing care and information transfer tasks (Robinson, 2016). This increases the risk of having incomplete or incorrect hand-offs (Raeisi et al., 2019). Therefore, nurses in the perioperative setting need to develop skills to help them handle patient care tasks and transfer information simultaneously without making mistakes.
Effect of Identified Problem
Poor nurse-to-nurse hand-off communication has been linked to increased medical errors and delayed surgeries (Caruso et al., 2017). Medical errors are one of the ...