• Jochen Bergs, Frank Lambrechts, Ines Mulleneers, Kim Lenaerts, Caroline Hauquier, Geert Proesmans, Sarah Creemers, and Dominique Vandijck.
• Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Belgium. Electronic address: jochen.bergs@uhasselt.be.
• Int Emerg Nurs. 2018 Jan 1; 36: 7-15.

IntroductionNursing handover is a process central to the delivery of high-quality and safe care. We aimed to improve the quality of nursing handover from the emergency department to ward and intensive care unit (ICU).MethodsA quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pre-test - post-test design was applied. Handover quality was measured using the Handover Evaluation Scale (HES). A tailored intervention, inspired by appreciative inquiry, was designed to improve the implementation of an existing handover form and procedure.ResultsIn total 130 nurses participated, 66 before and 64 after the intervention. Initial structure of the HES showed no good fit to our data; the questions were reshaped into 3 dimensions: Quality of information, Interaction and support, and Relevance of information. Following the intervention, mean changes in HES factor scores ranged from -3.99 to +15.9. No significant difference in factor scoring by ward and ICU nurses was found. Emergency department nurses, however, perceived Interaction and support to be improved following the intervention.ConclusionThe intervention did not result in an improved perception of handover quality by ward and ICU nurses. There was improvement in the perception of Interaction and support among emergency department nurses. The intervention positively effected teamwork and mutual understanding concerning nursing handover practice amongst emergency nurses. In order to improve intrahospital nursing handover, hospital-wide interventions are suggested. These interventions should be aimed at creating a generative story, improving mutual understanding, and establishing a supportive attitude regarding standardised procedures to reduce human error.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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