Journal for healthcare quality : official publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality
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Sign-out of patient data at change of shifts is vulnerable to errors that impact patient safety. Although sign-outs are complex in intensive care units (ICU), a paucity of studies exists evaluating optimal ICU sign-out. Our prospective interventional study investigated the use of a standard verbal template in a Pediatric ICU to improve the sign-out process. ⋯ After the intervention, sign-out content revealed increased patient identification, background description, account of system-based clinical details [p = .001] and notation of clinical details, code status, and goals [p < .002]. Interruptions decreased [p = .04] without any change in sign-out duration [p = .86]. The standard verbal template improved clinician satisfaction with sign-out, augmented the amount of information transferred and decreased interruptions without increasing the duration of sign-out.