Patient Handovers

“The process of transferring primary authority and responsibility for providing clinical care to a patient from one departing caregiver to one oncoming caregiver.” -Patterson, 2010

Overview

Patient handovers are extremely complex, and until recently, have received little attention during physician training. Although how handovers are done varies by institutions, units, and preferences of attending physicians, there are several best practices that have been proven to improve the quality of the patient handover.

Objectives

In this training module, you will learn how to improve patient safety when you are the physician who is coming in to take over a set of patients from a peer. The outgoing physician is expected to provide comprehensive and accurate information in a structured format. You will be expected to:

  1. Master three communication competencies to use during the handover
    1. Active verbal engagment
    2. Asking clarifying questions
    3. Perform collaborative cross-check to challenge potentially erroneous assumptions
  2. Learn how to use your time wisely during a patient handover