• Margaret L Halladay, Julie A Thompson, and Charles A Vacchiano.
• J. Perianesth. Nurs. 2019 Jun 1; 34 (3): 622-632.

PurposeAnesthesia to postanesthesia care unit (PACU) handoffs are often incomplete, imprecise, and highly variable with respect to information transfer, and therefore can jeopardize patient safety. A standardized anesthesia to PACU electronic medical record (EMR)-based patient handoff checklist was implemented and evaluated for its effect on the information transfer.DesignAn observational preimplementation and postimplementation design was used.MethodsAssessment of the completeness and accuracy of information transfer during the PACU handoff was performed for a convenience samples of 100 patients preimplementation, 3 weeks postimplementation, and 3 months postimplementation.FindingsThe mean percentage of total handoff checklist items addressed significantly increased 3 weeks and 3 months postimplementation compared with baseline.ConclusionsThe use of a standardized anesthesia to PACU EMR-based handoff checklist significantly increased the percent of accurate information transferred without considerably affecting the duration of the PACU handoff process.Copyright © 2018 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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