Patient handover: Time for a change?

Facilitators and barriers to collaboration between pre-hospital emergency and emergency department in traffic accidents: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Death caused by traffic accidents is one of the major problems of health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Rapid handover of the traffic accident victims and proper collaboration between the pre-hospital and emergency departments (EDs) play a critical role in improving the treatment process and decreasing the number of accidental deaths. Considering the importance of the collaboration between pre-hospital and emergency departments, this study was designed to investigate the facilitators and barriers of collaboration between pre-hospital and emergency departments in traffic accidents.

METHOD

This research is a qualitative study using content analysis. In order to collect data, semi-structured interviews were used. Seventeen subjects (including pre-hospital and emergency department personnel, emergency medicine specialists, and hospital managers) were selected through purposive sampling and were interviewed. After transcribing and reviewing interviews, data analysis was performed with the qualitative content analysis approach.

RESULTS

The participants consisted of 17 individuals (15 persons in pre-hospital and emergency departments with at least three years of work experience, one emergency medicine specialist and one hospital manager) who were selected by purposive sampling. The interviews were analyzed and three main categories and seven sub-categories were extracted. The main categories included "individual capabilities", "development of mutual understanding", and "infrastructures and processes".

DISCUSSION

Proper and practical planning and policymaking to strengthen facilitators and eliminate barriers to collaborate between pre-hospital and emergency departments are key points in promoting collaboration between these two important sectors of health system and reducing the traffic accident casualties in Iran.

Implementing the IMIST-AMBO tool for paramedic to trauma team handovers: a video review analysis

OBJECTIVE

Patient handover between paramedics and the trauma team is vulnerable to communication errors that may adversely affect patient care. This study assesses the feasibility of a handover tool, IMIST-AMBO (acronym of categories), implementation in the trauma bay and evaluates the degree to which it improves handover metrics.

METHODS

This is a prospective observational cohort study conducted at Canada's largest level-one trauma center. Feasibility of the tool implementation and improvement in handover metrics were assessed. Strategies for implementation included distribution of an educational video and posters, and point-of-care reminders in the trauma bay. Two reviewers independently assessed video recordings of handovers to evaluate handover metrics. Findings were compared to data obtained during a knowledge gap analysis conducted prior to the initiation of this study at the same institution.

RESULTS

Over 13 weeks (August to November 2020), 140 videos were recorded, of which 80 used the IMIST-AMBO tool (compliance of 57%). Paramedic adherence to the handover structure occurred in 70.4% of cases, with greater adherence to the IMIST (82.2%) compared to the AMBO (47.1%) section. The mean (± standard deviation) handover duration was shorter (1 min:58 s ± 0:44 s during implementation vs. 2 min:47 s ± 1:14 s pre-implementation, [p < 0.001]). Frequency of parallel conversations and informal handovers improved (61% to 30% and 65% to 13%, [p < 0.001], respectively). Interruptions during the handover decreased from 3.05 (± 1.95) to 1.5 (± 1.7), p < 0.001. The tool was received favorably among study participants.

CONCLUSION

The IMIST-AMBO tool reduced the frequency of interruptions, parallel conversations, and informal handovers during paramedic-trauma team handovers at our institution. The quality and amount of information communicated per handover improved, all with a decrease in handover duration. The IMIST-AMBO tool may be applied to other trauma centers across Canada, or more broadly on an international scale.

Using Trauma Video Review to Assess EMS Handoff and Trauma Team Non-Technical Skills

OBJECTIVE

Handoffs by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel suffer from poor structure, inattention, and interruptions. The relationship between the quality of EMS communication and the non-technical performance of trauma teams remains unknown.

METHODS

We analyzed 3 months of trauma resuscitation videos (highest acuity activations or patients with an Injury Severity Score [ISS] of ≥15). Handoffs were scored using the mechanism-injury-signs-treatment (MIST) framework for completeness (0-20), efficiency (category jumps), interruptions, and timeliness. Trauma team non-technical performance was scored using the Trauma Non-Technical Skills (T-NOTECHS) scale (5-15).

RESULTS

We analyzed 99 videos. Handoffs lasted a median of 62 seconds [IQR: 43-74], scored 11 [10-13] for completeness, and had 2 [1-3] interruptions. Most interruptions were verbal (85.2%) and caused by the trauma team (64.9%). Most handoffs (92%) were efficient with 2 or fewer jumps. Patient transfer during handoff occurred in 53.5% of the videos; EMS providers giving handoff helped transfer in 69.8% of the Primary surveys began during handoff in 42.4% of the videos. Resuscitation teams who scored in the top-quartile on the T-NOTECHS (>11) had higher MIST scores than teams in lower quartiles (13 [11.25-14.75] vs. 11 [10-13]; p < .01). There were no significant differences in ISS, efficiency, timeliness, or interruptions between top- and lower-quartile groups.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a relationship between EMS MIST completeness and high performance of non-technical skill by trauma teams. Trauma video review (TVR) can help identify modifiable behaviors to improve EMS handoff and resuscitation efforts and therefore trauma team performance.

Modelling Granular Process Flow Information to Reduce Bottlenecks in the Emergency Department

Increasing demand and changing case-mix have resulted in bottlenecks and longer waiting times in emergency departments (ED). However, many process improvement efforts addressing the bottlenecks have limitations, as they lack accurate models of the real system as input accounting for operational complexities. To understand the limitation, this research modelled granular procedural information, to analyse processes in a Level-1 ED of a 1200-bed teaching hospital in the UK. Semi-structured interviews with 21 clinicians and direct observations provided the necessary information. Results identified Majors as the most crowded area, hence, a systems modelling technique, role activity diagram, was used to derive highly granular process maps illustrating care in Majors which were further validated by 6 additional clinicians. Bottlenecks observed in Majors included awaiting specialist input, tests outside the ED, awaiting transportation, bed search, and inpatient handover. Process mapping revealed opportunities for using precedence information to reduce repeat tests; informed alerting; and provisioning for operational complexity into ED processes as steps to potentially alleviate bottlenecks. Another result is that this is the first study to map care processes in Majors, the area within the ED that treats complex patients whose care journeys are susceptible to variations. Findings have implications on the development of improvement approaches for managing bottlenecks.

Requirements for bespoke ICU Dashboard in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

Intensive care units (ICUs) around the world are in high demand due to patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. As researchers at the University of Bristol, we were approached to develop a bespoke data visualization dashboard to assist two local ICUs during the pandemic that will centralize disparate data sources in the ICU to help reduce the cognitive load on busy ICU staff in the ever-evolving pandemic.

Objective

The aim of this study was to conduct interviews with ICU staff in University Hospitals Bristol and Weston National Health Service Foundation Trust to elicit requirements for a bespoke dashboard to monitor the high volume of patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We conducted six semistructured interviews with clinical staff to obtain an overview of their requirements for the dashboard and to ensure its ultimate suitability for end users. Interview questions aimed to understand the job roles undertaken in the ICU, potential uses of the dashboard, specific issues associated with managing COVID-19 patients, key data of interest, and any concerns about the introduction of a dashboard into the ICU.

Results

From our interviews, we found the following design requirements: (1) a flexible dashboard, where the functionality can be updated quickly and effectively to respond to emerging information about the management of this new disease; (2) a mobile dashboard, which allows staff to move around on wards with a dashboard, thus potentially replacing paper forms to enable detailed and consistent data entry; (3) a customizable and intuitive dashboard, where individual users would be able to customize the appearance of the dashboard to suit their role; (4) real-time data and trend analysis via informative data visualizations that help busy ICU staff to understand a patient’s clinical trajectory; and (5) the ability to manage tasks and staff, tracking both staff and patient movements, handovers, and task monitoring to ensure the highest quality of care.

Conclusions

The findings of this study confirm that digital solutions for ICU use would potentially reduce the cognitive load of ICU staff and reduce clinical errors at a time of notably high demand of intensive health care.

Mental health, well-being and support interventions for UK ambulance services staff: an evidence map, 2000 to 2020

Background:

Prior to COVID-19 there had been a renewed policy focus in the National Health Service on the health and well-being of the healthcare workforce, with the ambulance sector identified as a priority area. This focus is more important than ever as the sector deals with the acute and longer-term consequences of a pandemic.

Aim:

To systematically identify, summarise and map the evidence regarding mental health, well-being and support interventions for United Kingdom ambulance services staff and to identify evidence gaps.

Method:

Evidence mapping methodology of published and grey original research published in English from 1 January 2000 to 23 May 2020 describing the health risk, mental health and/or well-being of UK ambulance services staff including retired staff, volunteers and students. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and AMED databases, plus EThOS, Zetoc, OpenGrey and Google, were searched, alongside hand-searching of grey literature and bibliographies. Information was extracted on study aims, sample, design and methodology, funding source, country and key findings. Included studies were categorised into seven a priori theme areas.

Results:

Of 1862 identified articles, 45 peer-reviewed studies are included as well as 24 grey literature documents. Peer-reviewed research was largely observational and focused on prevalence studies, post-traumatic stress disorder or organisational and individual social factors related to health and well-being. Most grey literature reported the development and testing of interventions. Across all study types, underpinning theory was often not cited.

Conclusion:

To date, intervention research has largely been funded by charities and published in the grey literature. Few studies were identified on self-harm, bullying, sleep and fatigue or alcohol and substance use. Theoretically informed intervention development and testing, including adaptation of innovations from other countries and 24-hour workforces, is needed. This evidence map provides important context for planning of staff well-being provision and research as the sector responds to and recovers from the pandemic.

PROSPERO registration number:

CRD42018104659.

Clinical handover from emergency medical services to the trauma team: A gap analysis

OBJECTIVES

There has been limited evaluation of handover from emergency medical services (EMS) to the trauma team. We sought to characterize these handover practices to identify areas of improvement and determine if handover standardization might be beneficial for trauma team performance.

METHODS

Data were prospectively collected over a nine-week period by a trained observer at a Canadian level one trauma centre. A randomized scheduled was used to capture a representative breadth of handovers. Data collected included outcome measures such as duration of handover, structure of the handover, and information shared, process measures such as questions and interruptions from the trauma team, and perceptions of the handover from nurses, trauma team leaders and EMS according to a bidirectional Likert scale.

RESULTS

79 formal verbal handovers were observed. Information was often missing regarding airway (present 22%), breathing (54%), medications (59%), and allergies (54%). Handover structure lacked consistency beyond the order of identification and mechanism of injury. Of all questions asked, 35% were questioning previously given information. The majority of handovers (61%) involved parallel conversations between team members while EMS was speaking. There was a statistically significant disparity between the self-evaluation of EMS handovers and the perceived quality determined by nurses and trauma team leaders.

CONCLUSIONS

We have identified the need to standardize handover due to poor information content, a lack of structure and active listening, information repetition, and discordant expectations between team members. These data will guide the development of a co-constructed framework integrating the perspectives of all team members.

Impact of a Standardized EMS Handoff Tool on Inpatient Medical Record Documentation at a Level I Trauma Center

BACKGROUND

The emergency department (ED) poses challenges to effective handoff from emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to ED staff. Despite the importance of a complete and accurate patient handoff report between EMS and trauma staff, communication is often interrupted, incomplete, or otherwise ineffective. The Mechanism of injury/Medical Complaint, Injuries or Inspections head to toe, vital Signs, and Treatments (MIST) report initiative was implemented to standardize the handoff process. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether documentation of prehospital care in the inpatient medical record improved after MIST implementation.

METHODS

Research staff abstracted data from the EMS and inpatient medical records of trauma patients transported by EMS and treated at a Level I trauma center from January 2015 through June 2017. Data included patient demographics, mechanism and location of injury, vital signs, treatments, and period of data collection (pre-MIST and post-MIST). We summarized the MIST elements in EMS and inpatient medical records and assessed the presence or absence of data elements in the inpatient record from the EMS record and the agreement between the two sets of records over time to determine if implementation of MIST improved documentation.

RESULTS

We analyzed data from 533 trauma patients transported by EMS and treated in a Level I trauma center (pre-MIST: n = 281; post-MIST: n = 252). For mechanism of injury, agreement between the two records was ≥96% before and after MIST implementation. Cardiac arrest and location of injury were under-reported in the inpatient record before MIST; post-MIST, there were no significant discrepancies, indicating an improvement in reporting. Reporting of prehospital hypotension improved from 76.5% pre-MIST to 83.3% post-MIST. After MIST implementation, agreement between the EMS and inpatient records increased for the reporting of fluid administration (45.6% to 62.7%) and decreased for reporting of pain medications (72.2% to 61.9%).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of the standardized MIST tool for EMS to hospital patient handoff was associated with a mixed value on inpatient documentation of prehospital events. After MIST implementation, agreement was higher for mechanism and location of injury and lower for vital signs and treatments. Further research can advance the prehospital to treatment facility handoff process.

Transition in Care from EMS Providers to Emergency Department Nurses: A Systematic Review

Background: Transitions in care between emergency medical services (EMS) providers and emergency department (ED) nurses are critical to patient care and safety. However, interactions between EMS providers and ED nurses can be problematic with communication gaps and have not been extensively studied. The aim of this review was to examine (1) factors that influence transitions in care from EMS providers to ED nurses and (2) the effectiveness of interventional strategies to improve these transitions. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods systematic review that included searches of electronic databases (DARE, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, Joanna Briggs Institute EBP), gray literature databases, organization websites, querying experts in emergency medicine, and the reference lists cited in included studies. All English-language studies of any design were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts and full-texts for inclusion and methodological quality, as well as extracted data from included studies. We used narrative and thematic synthesis to integrate and explore relationships within the data. Results: In total, 8,348 studies were screened and 130 selected for full text review. The final synthesis included 20 studies. Across 15 studies of moderate-to-high methodological quality, 6 factors influenced transitions: different professional lenses, operational constraints, professional relationships, information shared between the professions, components of the transition process, and patient presentation and involvement. Three interventions were identified in 6 methodologically weak studies: (1) transition guideline (DeMIST, Identification, Mechanism/Medical complaint, Injuries/Information related to the complaint, Signs, Treatment and Trends - Allergies, Medication, Background history, Other information [IMIST-AMBO]) with training, (2) mobile web-based technology (EMS smartphone and geographic information system location data), and (3) a new clinical role (ED ambulance off-load nurse dedicated to triaging and assessing EMS patients). There were mixed findings for the effectiveness of transition guidelines and the new clinical role. Mobile technology was seen positively by both EMS providers and ED nurses as helpful for better describing the pre-hospital context and for planning flow in the ED. Conclusion: While multimedia applications may potentially improve the handoff process, future intervention studies need to be rigorously designed. We recommend interdisciplinary training of EMS and ED staff in the use of flexible structured protocols, especially given review findings that interdisciplinary communication and relationships can be challenging.

Barriers to effective EMS to emergency department information transfer at patient handover: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Handovers of care are necessary, yet a vulnerable time for patient safety. They can either reduce the risk of medical error during transitions of care or cause direct medical or financial harm to patients due to poor communication.

OBJECTIVE

To review (1) observational studies that quantify the frequency of transfer of specific data points or clinician retention of information provided in prehospital verbal handoff to assess the state of EMS-to-ED handoffs; (2) surveys and interviews of prehospital and ED staff perceptions of the handover process and any perceived barriers to optimal handover found therein; (3) interventional studies that have aimed to improve the quality of EMS to ED handoffs.

METHODS

A systematic review of the literature was performed using Pubmed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and by hand-searching references of relevant articles. Articles were selected that focused on verbal and/or written handover of patient care from EMS to ED providers and that addressed the above goals. Qualitative data was extracted from the articles and assessed using thematic synthesis.

RESULTS

78 articles were identified for full text review, 60 of which met inclusion criteria. Four categories of barriers emerged on thematic synthesis: educational, operational, cultural, and cognitive. Within these categories, 12 initial descriptive themes and 9 suggested interventions were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Descriptive themes of disrespect & disinterest, environmental factors, redundancy, poor recall, conflicting goals and perspectives, technological issues, information degradation, information loss, lack of standardization, lack of training, delays, and lack of feedback were identified as barriers to effective EMS to ED handovers. Three categories of interventions were identified across the included interventional studies, namely technological, educational, and changes to cultural customs.

The critical care nurse's perception of handover: A phenomenographic study

OBJECTIVE

To describe variations in critical care nurses' perceptions of handover.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Phenomenographic design using individual interviews for data-collection.

SETTING

The critical care nurses participating in the study were recruited from critical care units in three hospitals in Sweden.

FINDINGS

Five descriptive categories were identified: Communication between staff, Opportunity for learning, Patient-centred information gathering as a basis for continuous care, Responsibility for transfers, and Patient safety and quality of care.

CONCLUSION

Nursing handover is a complex phenomenon, which is understood in various ways. Handover is mediated through communication and marks a shift in responsibility. Handover seems to be related to patient safety and quality of care. There is potential for improvement in the quality of nursing handover in clinical praxis, but further research is needed to determine ways of improving quality of handover.

Nurse-to-nurse communication about multidisciplinary care delivered in the emergency department: An observation study of nurse-to-nurse handover to transfer patient care to general medical wards

BACKGROUND

Little is known about how Australian national safety standards for communicating multidisciplinary care are operationalised during high-risk care transitions. We examined transfer of care for complex patients from the emergency department (ED) to medical wards to explore nurse-to-nurse communication about multidisciplinary care provided in the ED.

METHODS

Using naturalistic, mixed-methods design, observation, audit and interview data were collected from a convenience sample of 38 nurses during transfer of care for 19 complex patients from the ED to medical wards at a tertiary hospital. A focus group with 19 clinicians from multiple disciplines explored explanations for findings and recommendations. Quantitative data were analysed using frequencies and descriptive statistics; the Connect, Observe, Listen, Delegate (COLD) framework informed qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

Nurses seldom communicated multidisciplinary care at patient transfer. Most handovers included Connect and Observe (63-95%) and Listen (90%); Delegate (42%) behaviours were infrequent. Behaviours consistent with good practice recommendations (90%) and known to increase communication risk (53%) were observed. Tensions between policies and clinical processes, and information quality negatively impacted transfers.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed gaps in nurse-to-nurse communication about patients' multidisciplinary care. Complex factors negatively impact nurses' handover communication necessitating workarounds, and highlighting nurses' role as patient safety advocates.

Assessing safety climate in prehospital settings: testing psychometric properties of a common structural model in a cross-sectional and prospective study

BACKGROUND

Little research exists on patient safety climate in the prehospital context. The purpose of this article is to test and validate a safety climate measurement model for the prehospital environment, and to explore and develop a theoretical model measuring associations between safety climate factors and the outcome variable transitions and handoffs.

METHODS

A web-based survey design was utilized. An adjusted short version of the instrument Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) was developed into a hypothetical structural model. Three samples were obtained. Two from air ambulance workers in 2012 and 2016, with respectively 83 and 55% response rate, and the third from the ground ambulance workers in 2016, with 26% response rate. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to test validity and psychometric properties. Internal consistency was estimated and descriptive data analysis was performed. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to assess the theoretical model developed for the prehospital setting.

RESULTS

A post-hoc modified instrument consisting of six dimensions and 17 items provided overall acceptable psychometric properties for all samples, i.e. acceptable Chronbach's alphas (.68-.86) and construct validity (model fit values: SRMR; .026-.056, TLI; .95-.98, RMSEA; .031-.052, CFI; .96-.98). A common structural model could also be established.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provided a validated instrument, the Prehospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture short version (PreHSOPSC-S), for measuring patient safety climate in a prehospital context. We also demonstrated a positive relation between safety climate dimensions from leadership to unit level, from unit to individual level, and from individual level on the outcome dimension related to transitions and handoffs. Safe patient transitions and handoffs are considered an important outcome of prehospital deliveries; hence, new theory and a validated model will constitute an important contribution to the prehospital safety climate research.

Factors impeding the effective utilisation of an electronic patient report form during handover from an ambulance to an emergency department

We investigated the reasons why the transition from paper to electronically formatted records during patient handover between ambulance crews and emergency department staff in a North East England Emergency Department has not always been viewed positively. Interviews with seven paramedics and three emergency department staff were conducted in addition to observations of 74 ambulance staff during 37 handovers in the emergency department. In just over half of the handovers (20), paramedics found it necessary to provide written information to aid emergency department staff, in addition to that recorded electronically. There were a number of issues that impeded the ready utilisation of electronic records in this context. The major factors identified as contributing to this were the choice of system architecture, the design of user interfaces, and the procurement process used by the National Health Service. We have made some suggestions about how the system could evolve from one focused on providing management information to one that also supports operational needs.

The satisfaction regarding handovers between ambulance and emergency department nurses: an observational study

BACKGROUND

A thorough handover in the emergency department (ED) is of great importance for improving the quality and safety in the chain of care. The satisfaction of handover may reflect the quality of handover. Research to discover the variables influencing the satisfaction of handovers is scarce. The goal of this study was to determine the factors influencing the satisfaction regarding handovers from ambulance and ED nurses.

METHODS

We performed a prospective observational study in the University Medical Center of Groningen. Data regarding prehospital-hospital handovers has been collected by observing handovers and assessing patient chart information. Data regarding the satisfaction has been collected with a questionnaire including a 5-point scale for the level of satisfaction.

RESULTS

In total, 97 handovers were observed and 97 ambulance nurses and 89 ED nurses completed the questionnaire. The satisfaction of ambulance nurses showed a negative correlation with the waiting time prior to handover (r = -.287, p = .004) and a positive correlation with the presence of a physician in the receiving team (r = .224, p = .028). The satisfaction of ED nurses showed a positive correlation with the use of the ABCDE (r = .288, p = .006) and AMPLE instrument (r = .208, p = .050).

CONCLUSION

The satisfaction of ambulance and ED nurses as sender or receiver of the handover is determined by different factors. The satisfaction of ambulance nurses is mainly affected by the waiting time and presence of a physician, while the satisfaction of ED nurses is affected by the use of handover instruments and the completeness of medical information.

[Interface between preclinical and clinical trauma care: Analysis of the processes in a trauma network]

INTRODUCTION

In the initial treatment of severely injured patients a good cooperation of the emergency medical service (EMS) with the hospital team is mandatory. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the quality of cooperation between hospitals working within a trauma network and the rescue service and to develop a tool allowing assessment of the preclinical and clinical interface.

METHODS

Specific surveys concerning preclinical management and transfer to the target hospital were developed within a modified Delphi process. Injured trauma patients were included if the EMS involved was participating in the network and they were transferred to one of the participating hospitals.

RESULTS

Over an 11-month period a total of 360 patients were included in the study. The notification of transferring injured patients to the target hospital was carried out in a regular manner. Transport accompanied by an emergency physician occurred in 97% of the cases and no emergency physician was available although needed in only 1% of cases. Correct choice of target hospital was documented in 98.2%. The average waiting time for transferring the patient to the hospital team was 0.15 min. In 95.7% of cases a hospital physician was available to directly receive the patient in the emergency room. On a scale ranging from 1 (poor) to 10 (very good) clinical personnel as well as rescue teams rated the cooperation between both with a median of 10 points (IQR 8;10). From the clinicians point of view airway and circulation problems and external bleeding were correctly treated in the preclinical setting (airway 93.9%, circulation 97.3% and external bleeding 95.3%); however, for extremity injuries only in 78.5% of the cases.

CONCLUSION

This survey presents an adequate tool to identify weak spots within the primary management and to point out elements for improvement.

A prospective evaluation of the availability and utility of the Ambulance Call Record in the emergency department

OBJECTIVE

To determine how often the Ambulance Call Record (ACR) was available to emergency department (ED) physicians and whether it contained information that changed the ED management of patients.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study of adult patients transported to one of two tertiary care centre EDs. Physicians completed a data collection form for each patient regarding ACR availability and the perceived value of the ACR. This study began shortly after the implementation of a new electronic ACR (eACR) handover process (Round 1). To control for any confounding factors related to this new eACR handover process, the study was repeated 6 months after its implementation (Round 2).

RESULTS

Total of 869 forms were collected: 545 in Round 1, and 324 in Round 2. The ACR was available at first physician assessment for 82 (15.7%) patients in Round 1, and 76 (24.4%) patients in Round 2 (Δ8.7%, 95% CI: 3.1%, 14.5%). The ACR was available at some point during patients' ED stay for 154 (28.9%) patients in Round 1, compared to 111 (34.5%) patients in Round 2 (Δ5.6%, 95% CI: 0.0%, 12.1%). When the ACR was available for a patient (n=265), physicians believed that information in the ACR changed their treatment plan in 76 (28.8%) cases.

CONCLUSION

Physicians who review the ACR believe that the ACR contains relevant information that may influence patient management; however, physicians commonly manage patients without reviewing the ACR.

Patient safety in ambulance services: a scoping review

Background

The role of ambulance services has changed dramatically over the last few decades with the introduction of paramedics able to provide life-saving interventions, thanks to sophisticated equipment and treatments available. The number of 999 calls continues to increase, with adverse events theoretically possible with each one. Most patient safety research is based on hospital data, but little is known concerning patient safety when using ambulance services, when things can be very different. There is an urgent need to characterise the evidence base for patient safety in NHS ambulance services.

Objective

To identify and map available evidence relating to patient safety when using ambulance services.

Design

Mixed-methods design including systematic review and review of ambulance service documentation, with areas for future research prioritised using a Delphi process.

Setting and participants

Ambulance services, their staff and service users in UK.

Data sources

A wide range of data sources were explored. Multiple databases, reference lists from key papers and citations, Google and the NHS Confederation website were searched, and experts contacted to ensure that new data were included in the review. The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science, Science Direct, Emerald, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC), NHS Evidence, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED),Health Technology Assessment, the FADE library, Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH), OpenDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories) and Open System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (OpenSIGLE) and Zetoc (The British Library's Electronic Table of Contents) were searched from 1 January 1980 to 12 October 2011. Publicly available documents and issues identified by National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) and coroners’ reports were considered. Opinions and perceptions of senior managers, ambulance staff and service users were solicited.

Review methods

Data were extracted from annual reports using two-stage thematic analysis, data from quality accounts were collated with safety priorities tabulated and considered using thematic analysis, NPSA incident report data were collated and displayed comparatively using descriptive statistics, claims reported to NHSLA were analysed to identify number and cost of claims from mistakes and/or poor service, and summaries of coroners’ reports were assessed using thematic analysis to identify underlying safety issues. The depth of analysis is limited by the remit of a scoping exercise and availability of data.

Results

We identified studies exploring different aspects of safety, which were of variable quality and with little evidence to support activities currently undertaken by ambulance services. Adequately powered studies are required to address issues of patient safety in this service, and it appeared that national priorities were what determined safety activities, rather than patient need. There was inconsistency of information on attitudes and approaches to patient safety, exacerbated by a lack of common terminology.

Conclusion

Patient safety needs to become a more prominent consideration for ambulance services, rather than operational pressures, including targets and driving the service. Development of new models of working must include adequate training and monitoring of clinical risks. Providers and commissioners need a full understanding of the safety implications of introducing new models of care, particularly to a mobile workforce often isolated from colleagues, which requires a body of supportive evidence and an inherent critical evaluation culture. It is difficult to extrapolate findings of clinical studies undertaken in secondary care to ambulance service practice and current national guidelines often rely on consensus opinion regarding applicability to the pre-hospital environment. Areas requiring further work include the safety surrounding discharging patients, patient accidents, equipment and treatment, delays in transfer/admission to hospital, and treatment and diagnosis, with a clear need for increased reliability and training for improving handover to hospital.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

A tailored e-learning program to improve handover in the chain of emergency care: a pre-test post-test study

OBJECTIVE

To standardize patient handover in the chain of emergency care a handover guideline was developed. The main guideline recommendation is to use the DeMIST model (Demographics, Mechanism of Injury/illness, Injury/Illness, Signs, Treatment given) to structure pre-hospital notification and handover. To benefit from the new guideline, guideline adherence is necessary. As adherence to guidelines in emergency care settings is variable, there is a need to systematically implement the new guideline. For implementation of the guideline we developed a e-learning program tailored to influencing factors. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this e-learning program to improve emergency care professionals' adherence to the handover guideline during pre-hospital notification and handover in the chain of emergency medical service (EMS), emergency medical dispatch (EMD), and emergency department (ED).

METHODS

A prospective pre-test post-test study was conducted. The intervention was a tailored e-learning program that was offered to ambulance crew and emergency medical dispatchers (n=88). Data on adherence included pre-hospital notifications and handovers and were collected through observations and audiotapes before and after the e-learning program. Data were analyzed using X(2)-tests and t-tests.

RESULTS

In total, 78/88 (88.6%) professionals followed the e-learning program. During pre- and post-test, 146 and 169 handovers were observed respectively. After the e-learning program, no significant difference in the number of handovers with the DeMIST model (77.9% vs. 73.1%, p=.319) and the number of handovers with the correct sequence of the DeMIST model (69.9% vs. 70.5%, p=.159) existed. During the handover, the number of questions by ED staff and interruptions significantly increased from 49.0% to 68.9% and from 15.2% to 52.7% respectively (both p=.000). Most handovers were performed after patient transfer, this did not change after the intervention (p=.167). The number of handovers where information was documented during handover slightly increased from 26.9% to 29.3% (p=.632).

CONCLUSIONS

The tailored e-learning program did not improve adherence to a handover guideline in the chain of emergency care. Results show a relatively high baseline adherence rate to usage and correct sequence of the DeMIST model. Improvements in the handover process can be made on the documentation of information during handover, the number of interruptions and questions, and the handover moment.

Clinical handovers between prehospital and hospital staff: literature review

BACKGROUND

Clinical handover plays a vital role in patient care and has been investigated in hospital settings, but less attention has been paid to the interface between prehospital and hospital settings. This paper reviews the published research on these handovers.

METHODS

A computerised literature search was conducted for papers published between 2000 and 2013 using combinations of terms: 'handover', 'handoff', 'prehospital', 'ambulance', 'paramedic' and 'emergency' and citation searching. Papers were assessed and included if determined to be at least moderate quality with a primary focus on prehospital to hospital handover.

FINDINGS

401 studies were identified, of which 21 met our inclusion criteria. These revealed concerns about communication and information transfer, and themes concerning context, environment and interprofessional relationships. It is clear that handover exchanges are complicated by chaotic and noisy environments, lack of time and resources. Poor communication is linked to behaviours such as not listening, mistrust and misunderstandings between staff. While standardisation is offered as a solution, notably in terms of the use of mnemonics (alphabetical memory aids), evidence for benefit appears inconclusive.

CONCLUSIONS

This review raises concerns about handovers at the interface between prehospital and hospital settings. The quality of existing research in this area is relatively poor and further high-quality research is required to understand this important part of emergency care. We need to understand the complexity of handover better to grasp the challenges of context and interprofessional relationships before we reach for tools and techniques to standardise part of the handover process.

Reasons (not) to Spend a Few Billions More on EHRs: How Human Factors Research Can Help

OBJECTIVES

To select best medical informatics research works published in 2013 on electronic health record (EHR) adoption, design, and impact, from the perspective of human factors and organizational issues (HFOI).

METHODS

We selected 2,764 papers by querying PubMed (Mesh and TIAB) as well as using a manual search. Papers were evaluated based on pre-defined exclusion and inclusion criteria from their title, keywords, and abstract to select 15 candidate best papers, finally reviewed by 4 external reviewers using a standard evaluation grid.

RESULTS

Five papers were selected as best papers to illustrate how human factors approaches can improve EHR adoption and design. Among other contributions, these works: (i) make use of the observational and analysis methodologies of social and cognitive sciences to understand clinicians' attitudes towards EHRs, EHR use patterns, and impact on care processes, workflows, information exchange, and coordination of care; (ii) take into account macro- (environmental) and meso- (organizational) level factors to analyze EHR adoption or lack thereof; (iii) highlight the need for qualitative studies to analyze the unexpected side effects of EHRs on cognitive and work processes as well as the persistent use of paper.

CONCLUSION

Selected papers tend to demonstrate that HFOI approaches and methodologies are essential to bridge the gap between EHR systems and end users, and to reduce regularly reported adoption failures and unexpected consequences.

Communication during handover in the pre-hospital/hospital interface in Italy: from evaluation to implementation of multidisciplinary training through high-fidelity simulation

Communication failures in the pre-hospital/hospital interface have been identified as a major preventable cause of patient harm. This interface has not adequately been studied in Italy. In this study, we: (1) evaluated the communication of pre-hospital and hospital providers during handover through the analysis of simulation sessions; (2) identified the critical information that should be routinely communicated during handover with a survey administered to emergency triage nurses; (3) measured communication within this interface through the adaptation of an existing tool from a multidisciplinary focus group; (4) validated the adapted tool with the inter-rater agreement of physicians who reviewed video recordings from multidisciplinary simulations sessions; and (5) developed a handover training for pre-hospital providers and evaluated the communication improvement between pre- and post-training. In our simulations we found an absence of standardization of the handover communication process, marked variability in information communicated, and a lack of formal transfer of responsibility of patient care. We adapted existing handover communication tools for local use and developed a checklist for the evaluation of handover communication that had good inter-rater reliability. Lectures coupled with high-fidelity simulation exercises on handover did result in a statistically significant improvement in handover communication.

Review article: Improving the hospital clinical handover between paramedics and emergency department staff in the deteriorating patient

Clinical communication and recognising and responding to a deteriorating patient are key current patient safety issues in healthcare. The aim of this literature review is to identify themes associated with aspects of the hospital clinical handover between paramedics and ED staff that can be improved, with a specific focus on the transfer of care of a deteriorating patient. Extensive searches of scholarly literature were conducted using the main medical and nursing electronic databases, including Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Medline and PubMed, during 2011 and again in July 2012. Seventeen peer-reviewed English-language original quantitative and qualitative studies from 2001 to 2012 were selected and critically appraised using an evaluation tool based on published instruments. Relevant themes identified were: professional relationships, respect and barriers to communication; multiple or repeated handovers; identification of staff in the ED; significance of vital signs; need for a structured handover tool; documentation and other communication methods and education and training to improve handovers. The issues raised in the literature included the need to: produce more complete and concise handovers, create respectful and effective communication, and identify staff in the ED. A structured handover tool such as ISBAR (a mnemonic covering Introduction, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendations) would appear to provide a solution to many of these issues. The recording of vital signs and transfer of these data might be improved with better observation systems incorporating early warning strategies. More effective teamwork could be achieved with further clinical communications training.

Handover of patients: a topical review of ambulance crew to emergency department handover

Handover has major implications for patient care. The handover process between ambulance and emergency department (ED) staff has been sparsely investigated. The purpose of this paper is, based on a literature review, to identify and elaborate on the major factors influencing the ambulance to ED handover, and to bring suggestions on how to optimize this process. A literature search on handovers to EDs was performed in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane databases. A total of 18 papers were included. Issues regarding transfer of information are highlighted. Newer studies suggest that implementing a structured handover format holds the possibilities for improving the process. Electronic equipment could play a part in reducing problems. Cultural and organizational factors impact the process in different ways. The professions perceive the value and quality of information given differently. Giving and taking over responsibility is an important issue. The handover of patients to the ED has the potential to be improved. Cultural issues and a lack of professional recognition of handover importance need to be approached. Multidisciplinary training in combination with a structured tool may have a potential for changing the culture and improving handover.

Usage of documented pre-hospital observations in secondary care: a questionnaire study and retrospective comparison of records

BACKGROUND

The patient handover is important for the safe transition from the pre-hospital setting to secondary care. The loss of critical information about the pre-hospital phase may impact upon the clinical course of the patient.

METHODS

University Hospital Emergency Care registrars answered a questionnaire about how they perceive clinical documentation from the ambulance services. We also reviewed patient records retrospectively, to investigate to what extent eight selected parameters were transferred correctly to hospital records by clinicians. Only parameters outside the normal range were selected.

RESULTS

The registrars preferred a verbal handover with hand-written pre-hospital reports as the combined source of clinical information. Scanned report forms were infrequently used. Information from other doctors was perceived as more important than the information from ambulance crews. Less than half of the selected parameters in pre-hospital notes were transferred to hospital records, even for parameters regarded as important by the registrars. Abnormal vital signs were not transferred as often as mechanism of injury, medication administered and immobilisation of trauma patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Data on pre-hospital abnormal vital signs are frequently not transferred to the hospital admission notes. This information loss may lead to suboptimal care.

Socio-technical issues and challenges in implementing safe patient handovers: insights from ethnographic case studies

PURPOSE

Ineffective handovers in patient care, including those where information loss occurs between care providers, have been identified as a risk to patient safety. Computerization of health information is often offered as a solution to improve the quality of care handovers and decrease adverse events related to patient safety. The purpose of this paper is to broaden our understanding of clinical handover as a patient safety issue, and to identify socio-technical issues which may come to bear on the success of computer based handover tools.

METHODS

Three in depth ethnographic case studies were undertaken. Field notes were transcribed and analyzed with the aid of qualitative data analysis software. Within case analysis was performed on each case, and subsequently, cross case analyses were performed.

RESULTS

We identified five types of socio-technical issues which must be addressed if electronic handover tools are to succeed. The inter-dependencies of these issues are addressed in relation to arenas in which health care work takes place.

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest that the contextual nature of information, ethical and medico-legal issues arising in relation to information handover, and issues related to data standards and system interoperability must be addressed if computerized health information systems are to achieve improvements in patient safety related to handovers in care.

Clinical handover of patients arriving by ambulance to a hospital emergency department: a qualitative study

AIM

The aims of this study were to (1) explore the clinical handover processes between ambulance and ED personnel of patients arriving by ambulance at one hospital and (2) identify factors that impact on the information transfer to ascertain strategies for improvement.

METHODS

A focused ethnographic approach was used that included participant observation, conversational interviews and examination of handover tools. Participants included ambulance paramedics, nurses and medical practitioners from an ambulance service and regional hospital located in South East Queensland, Australia. Grounded theory methods of constant comparative data analyses were used to generate categories of findings.

FINDINGS

Two types of clinical handover were identified: (1) for non-critical patients and (2) for critical patients. Quality of handover appears to be dependent on the personnel's expectations, prior experience, workload and working relationships. Lack of active listening and access to written information were identified issues.

CONCLUSION

Clinical handover between two organisations with different cultures and backgrounds may be improved through shared training programmes involving the use of guidelines, tools such as a whiteboard and a structured communication model such as MIST. Future participatory research to evaluate new handover strategies is recommended.

The effectiveness of high fidelity simulation on medical-surgical registered nurses' ability to recognise and respond to clinical emergencies

BACKGROUND

There is a paucity of evidence regarding the efficacy in preparing medical-surgical nurses to respond to patients with acutely deteriorating conditions.

STUDY AIM

The aim of this study was to evaluate registered nurses' ability to respond to the deteriorating patient in clinical practise following training using immersive simulation and use of a high fidelity simulator.

METHODS

This study was a follow-up survey of medical-surgical graduate nurses following immersive high fidelity simulation training. Thirty eight registered nurses practising in medical-surgical areas completed the simulation as part of university graduate study. A follow-up survey of the graduate medical-surgical registered nurses conducted three months following completion of a high fidelity simulation-based learning experience. Outcomes consisted of the number of times skills were used in practise and the usefulness of simulation in preparing for actual emergency events.

RESULTS

Participants reported a total of 164 clinical patient emergencies in the follow-up time period including: 46% cardiac, 32% respiratory, 10% neurological, 7% cardiac arrest and 5% related to electrolyte disturbances. The ability to respond in a systematic way, handover to the emergency team and airway management were identified as the skills most improved during patient emergencies following simulation. The most useful aspects of the simulation experience identified were scenario debriefing and assertiveness training. Participants with less years of clinical experience were more likely to report practising the team leader role and debriefing as the most useful aspects of simulation.

CONCLUSIONS

The skills practised in simulation were highly relevant to participants practise in medical-surgical areas. Non-technical skills, including assertiveness skills should be considered in future emergency training courses for nurses.

Surgical handover in a tertiary hospital: a working model

The trend, in the last few years, of shorter working hours for junior doctors has been driven by the need for safer working conditions. This has led to the loss of continuity of care and the introduction of shift work for residents and registrars, resulting in up to three handovers per 24-h period. Many sentinel events occurring in hospitals can be attributed to a breakdown in communication. Clinical handover is important because it not only facilitates continuity in the transfer of patient information between healthcare professionals but also helps identify potential problems that may occur in upcoming shifts. Methods of handover include verbal-only reports, verbal reports with note-taking and the use of printed handouts containing relevant patient information. This paper presents an exposition of a working model for morning surgical handovers in a tertiary teaching hospital that uses a printed handover sheet, is consultant-led and conference-based, and with an educational focus. A survey of resident staff confirmed the morning handover as important in both patient care and education. There was a marked improvement in tertiary trauma survey completion rates after the introduction of the morning handover. It is now an accepted and important part of the working day in the surgical unit of the hospital.

Hospital handoffs as multifunctional situated routines: implications for researchers and administrators

Patient handoffs involve the exchange of information between health professionals accompanying a transfer of responsibility for, or control of, a patient. Concerns over the safety risks of poor handoffs have resulted in regulatory pressure to standardize practice and considerable growth in research. But handoffs involve more than information transfer, and their consequences for health care organizations extend beyond the safety of patients. Using an organization theory lens, we review the literature on handoffs and propose a framework that characterizes handoffs as multifunctional, situated organizational routines. We also identify implications for researchers and hospital policymakers. Standardization and improvement efforts run the risk of causing unintended problems if they overlook the complexity of handoff and the larger organizational functions it serves. Deepening our understanding of the multifunctional, situated nature of handoff can lead to improvement efforts that not only safeguard individual patients, but also enhance the capabilities of the larger health care organization.

Patient handoffs: standardized and reliable measurement tools remain elusive

BACKGROUND

Numerous quality improvement projects on patient handoffs have been conducted, yet standardized, reliable measurement tools remain elusive.

HANDOFF QUALITY MEASURES CLASSIFIED BY PRIMARY HANDOFF PURPOSE

The literature review, which yielded approximately 400 relevant articles, led to the identification of seven primary functions for patient handoffs, each of which implies different interventions to improve them: (1) Framing 1, information processing is the most prevalent in the patient handoff literature; (2) Framing 2, stereotypical narratives, emphasizes highlighting deviations from typical narratives, such as a patient who is allergic to the preferred antibiotic for treating his or her diagnosed condition; (3) Framing 3, resilience, takes advantage of the transparency of the thought processes revealed through the conversation to identify erroneous assumptions and actions; (4) Framing 4, accountability, emphasizes the transfer of responsibility and authority; (5) Framing 5, social interaction, considers the perspective of the participants in the exchange; (6) Framing 6, distributed cognition, addresses how a transfer to a new care provider affects a network of specialized practitioners performing dedicated roles who may or may not be transitioning at the same time; (7) Framing 7, cultural norms, relates to how group values (instantiated as social norms for acceptable behavior) in an organization or suborganization are negotiated and maintained over time.

DISCUSSION

The diversity of handoff measurement approaches suggests a lack of consensus about the primary purpose of a handoff, as well as about what interventions are most promising for improving handoff processes. Recognizing that there are simultaneously multiple purposes for handoffs is a critical precursor to quality improvement.

Clinical handover of patients arriving by ambulance to the emergency department - a literature review

AIM

To provide a critical review of research on clinical handover between the ambulance service and emergency department (ED) in hospitals.

METHOD

Data base and hand searches were conducted using the keywords ambulance, handover, handoff, emergency department, emergency room, ER, communication, and clinical handover. Data were extracted, summarised and critically assessed to provide evidence of current clinical handover processes.

RESULTS

From 252 documents, eight studies fitted the inclusion criteria of clinical handover and the ambulance to ED patient transfer. Three themes were identified in the review: (1) important information may be missed during clinical handover; (2) structured handovers that include both written and verbal components may improve information exchange; (3) multidisciplinary education about the clinical handover process may encourage teamwork, a shared common language and a framework for minimum patient information to be transferred from the ambulance service to the hospital ED.

CONCLUSION

Knowledge gaps exist concerning handover information, consequences of poor handover, transfer of responsibility, staff perception of handovers, staff training and evaluation of recommended strategies to improve clinical handover. Evidence of strategies being implemented and further research is required to examine the ongoing effects of implementing the strategies.

Identification of patient information corruption in the intensive care unit: using a scoring tool to direct quality improvements in handover

OBJECTIVE

To use a handover assessment tool for identifying patient information corruption and objectively evaluating interventions designed to reduce handover errors and improve medical decision making. The continuous monitoring, intervention, and evaluation of the patient in modern intensive care unit practice generates large quantities of information, the platform on which medical decisions are made. Information corruption, defined as errors of distortion/omission compared with the medical record, may result in medical judgment errors. Identifying these errors may lead to quality improvements in intensive care unit care delivery and safety.

DESIGN

Handover assessment instrument development study divided into two phases by the introduction of a handover intervention.

SETTING

Closed, 17-bed, university-affiliated mixed surgical/medical intensive care unit.

SUBJECTS

Senior and junior medical members of the intensive care unit team.

INTERVENTIONS

Electronic handover page.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Study subjects were asked to recall clinical information commonly discussed at handover on individual patients. The handover score measured the percentage of information correctly retained for each individual doctor-patient interaction. The clinical intention score, a subjective measure of medical judgment, was graded (1-5) by three blinded intensive care unit experts. A total of 137 interactions were scored. Median (interquartile range) handover scores for phases 1 and 2 were 79.07% (67.44-84.50) and 83.72% (76.16-88.37), respectively. Score variance was reduced by the handover intervention (p < .05). Increasing median handover scores, 68.60 to 83.72, were associated with increases in clinical intention scores from 1 to 5 (chi-square = 23.59, df = 4, p < .0001).

CONCLUSIONS

When asked to recall clinical information discussed at handover, medical members of the intensive care unit team provide data that are significantly corrupted compared with the medical record. Low subjective clinical judgment scores are significant associated with low handover scores. The handover/clinical intention scores may, therefore, be useful screening tools for intensive care unit system vulnerability to medical error. Additionally, handover instruments can identify interventions that reduce system vulnerability to error and may be used to guide quality improvements in handover practice.

Improving handoffs in the emergency department

Patient handoffs at shift change are a ubiquitous and potentially hazardous process in emergency care. As crowding and lengthy evaluations become the standard for an increasing proportion of emergency departments (EDs), the number of patients handed off will likely increase. It is critical now more than ever before to ensure that handoffs supply valid and useful shared understandings between providers at transitions of care. The purpose of this article is to provide the most up-to-date evidence and collective thinking about the process and safety of handoffs between physicians in the ED. It offers perspectives from other disciplines, provides a conceptual framework for handoffs, and categorizes models of existing practices. Legal and risk management issues are also addressed. A proposal for the development of handoff quality measures is outlined. Practical strategies are suggested to improve ED handoffs. Finally, a research agenda is proposed to provide a roadmap to future work that may increase knowledge in this area.

Information loss in emergency medical services handover of trauma patients

INTRODUCTION

Little is known about how effectively information is transferred from emergency medical services (EMS) personnel to clinicians in the emergency department receiving the patient. Information about prehospital events and findings can help ensure expedient and appropriate care. The trauma literature describes 16 prehospital data points that affect outcome and therefore should be included in the EMS report when applicable.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the degree to which information presented in the EMS trauma patient handover is degraded.

METHODS

At a level I trauma center, patients meeting criteria for the highest level of trauma team activation ("full trauma") were enrolled. As part of routine performance improvement, the physician leadership of the trauma program watched all available video-recorded full trauma responses, checking off whether the data points appropriate to the case were verbally "transmitted" by the EMS provider. Two EMS physicians then each independently reviewed the trauma team's chart notes for 50% of the sample (and a randomly selected 15% of the charts to assess agreement) and checked off whether the same elements were documented ("received") by the trauma team. The focus was on data elements that were "transmitted" but not "received."

RESULTS

In 96 patient handovers, a total of 473 elements were transmitted, of which 329 were received (69.6%). On the average chart, 72.9% of the transmitted items were received (95% confidence interval 69.0%-76.8%). The most commonly transmitted data elements were mechanism of injury (94 times), anatomic location of injury (81), and age (67). Prehospital hypotension was received in only 10 of the 28 times it was transmitted; prehospital Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score 10 of 22 times; and pulse rate 13 of 49 times.

CONCLUSIONS

Even in the controlled setting of a single-patient handover with direct verbal contact between EMS providers and in-hospital clinicians, only 72.9% of the key prehospital data points that were transmitted by the EMS personnel were documented by the receiving hospital staff. Elements such as prehospital hypotension, GCS score, and other prehospital vital signs were often not recorded. Methods of "transmitting" and "receiving" data in trauma as well as all other patients need further scrutiny.

Conceptualizing handover strategies at change of shift in the emergency department: a grounded theory study

Background

The importance and complexity of handovers is well-established. Progress for intervening in the emergency department change of shift handovers may be hampered by lack of a conceptual framework. The objectives were to gain a better understanding of strategies used for change of shift handovers in an emergency care setting and to further expand current understanding and conceptualizations.

Methods

Observations, open-ended questions and interviews about handover strategies were collected at a Veteran's Health Administration Medical Center in the United States. All relevant staff in the emergency department was observed; 31 completed open-ended surveys; 10 completed in-depth interviews. The main variables of interest were strategies used for handovers at change of shift and obstacles to smooth handovers.

Results

Of 21 previously identified strategies, 8 were used consistently, 4 were never used, and 9 were used occasionally. Our data support ten additional strategies. Four agent types and 6 phases of the process were identified via grounded theory analysis. Six general themes or clusters emerged covering factors that intersect to define the degree of handover smoothness.

Conclusion

Including phases and agents in conceptualizations of handovers can help target interventions to improve patient safety. The conceptual model also clarifies unique handover considerations for the emergency department setting.