Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety / Joint Commission Resources
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · Jan 2015
Implementation of a standardized postanesthesia care handoff increases information transfer without increasing handoff duration.
In the transition of a patient from the operating room (OR) to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), it was hypothesized that (1) standardizing the members of sending and receiving teams and (2) requiring a structured handoff process would increase the overall amount of patient information transferred in the OR-to-PACU handoff process. ⋯ A standardized, team-based approach to OR-to-PACU handoffs increased the quantity of patient information transferred, increased PACU nurse satisfaction, and did not increase the handoff duration.