Patient Handovers are a very important part of medical care. During handovers, the incoming clinician learns about the status and care paths of each of the patients to whom they will be attending. In this training you will learn how to conduct an effective handover as both the incoming and outgoing clinician. You will learn how to use your time efficiently as an outgoing clinician, giving the most time to patients with unique or uncertain diagnoses or who will require more care than others. As an incoming clinician you will learn how to ask the right questions to strengthen your understanding of each patient and contribute to the care plan in the most effective way possible.
Proper handovers will lead to increased patient safety, diminish uncertainty about patient care, and decrease your after-hours workload. Understanding how to engage in a patient handover will help at the beginning and end of every shift. As you begin to engage in patient handovers you will see how catching and correcting subtle miscommunications will result in enhanced patient care. Maximizing the value for time spent on patient handovers is of critical importance and will make your job as the attending physician much more manageable. At the end of the day we are all here for the patients, and as a collaborative player in the handover process you are ensuring that your patients recieve the best care possible.
As you follow the path of this training program you will be given information and interactive assessments to guage your understanding. The assessment at the end of the training program is the one upon which you will be graded. You can take this assessment as many times as you need to achieve a passing grade. You are encouraged to take your time and participate to the fullest extent of your abilities. The training is linear, but you have the option of completing it in whichever way that you deam most appropriate and effective for your learning style.
© Weiss Patterson, 2013