Contemp Nurse
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Comparing written and oral approaches to clinical reporting in nursing.
Patient safety is compromised if vital clinical information is not available to all members of the healthcare team. Therefore, it is important to understand the differences between patient information found in nursing documentation and information presented at clinical nursing handover. ⋯ Clinical handover produced a comprehensive picture of the patient's condition and care whereas nursing documentation tended to present a series of descriptions of tasks performed by nurses. There is a need to investigate new systems of communication promoting congruence between clinical handover and nursing documentation to ensure that all patient information can be accessed by all interested parties.