Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety / Joint Commission Resources
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · Oct 2013
Using "best-fit" interventions to improve the nursing intershift handoff process at a medical center in Lebanon.
Nursing intershift handoff involves communicating essential patient information between the outgoing and the oncoming nurses during shift changes. A subsequent review of reported patient safety incidents at Labib Medical Center (LMC), Saida, Lebanon, showed that medication errors, delay in treatment, wrong treatment, duplication of laboratory tests, and near-miss events were caused by patient information omissions during intershift handoffs. In response, LMC initiated a quality improvement project using a multifaceted intervention to improve the quality of nursing intershift handoffs. ⋯ The intershift handoff communication process can be improved using evidence-based strategies that target internal barriers where the shift report occurs. Regular monitoring and follow-up are essential to maintain the improvement.