Handoffs in Nursing Communication
The advancements in the healthcare setting has resulted in the prevalence of the specialized clinicians due to which the occurrence of the handoffs has been increased even in the simple healthcare setting. The inadequate handoffs in the healthcare settings can effect the quality of the healthcare services and can incorporate medication errors, patient deaths and wrong-site surgeries. The handoffs comprehend the transfer of information during the provision of the healthcare services in a holistic manner so that the procedures related to the sign-out, handover, cross-coverage, sign-over and shift report can remain effective (Blouin, 2011).
The technological advancements have exalted the extent of communication in the workplace settings and these innovations can be implied in the healthcare organizations to enhance the quality of communication among the healthcare staff. The information systems that provide the access to the required information to the clinical and nursing staff can enhance the level of handoffs. The study conducted was conducted in this respect in which the computerized system in the resident-care was implemented and the results of the study indicated the decrease in the number of patients that were missed during on-round services. The electronic support can also enhance the shift-handoffs and can improve the communication in the complex settings (Streeter, 2010).
The patients are focused on the quality of care and the prevalence of handoffs in the healthcare organizations cause patient dissatisfaction due to which the patients indulge in the decision of transfer in order to acquire better healthcare services. In this manner, such organizations are not considered to provide the standard healthcare services by the public. The effective handoffs can enhance the integration between the clinical staff due to which the quality of services can be increased, which will eventually increase the quality standard of the healthcare organization (Streeter, 2010).
It is inferred that the nursing staff plays a prominent role in the provision of the healthcare services to the patients. The study conducted by (Murray et al., 2013) was focused on extent of handoff communication in the emergency department and the results of the study indicated that handoff was limited to the nurse-nurse interaction and the absence of the communication checklist in the healthcare design causing discrepancies in ensuring the adequate level of communication among the staff. Therefore, it is required that the systematic communication checklist should be developed and implied in the work design of the healthcare organization so that the nursing staff can ensure the prevalence of effective communication during handoffs (Hughes et al., 2008).
The problems that occur due to the inadequate communication among the clinical and nursing staff in the emergency room are required to be communicated with the healthcare staff. In this manner, the prevalence of errors in the healthcare settings can be identified by the nursing staff and they can understand the extent to which the adequate level of communication is required to be incorporated in the healthcare settings. The active discussion between the clinical and nursing staff is required so the complications that prevail in the communication process can be identified and their criticality to the patient’s care can be enlightened (Streeter, 2010).
However, the resistance towards the implementation of the new procedures prevail in the workplace setting. The nursing staff is required to be provided with the standard work procedure which is objectified to address the handoff situations in an effective manner. Therefore, the development of the communication design in the workplace setting is required so that the miscommunications and handoffs can be avoided (Streeter, 2010).
The barriers in the implementation of the standard communication procedure also implies the disintegration between the message of sender and receiver due to which the misinterpretation of the message may prevail. In this manner, the quality of the patient care can deteriorate, however, this barrier can be eradicated by implementing the electronic communication system in the workplace setting due to which misinterpretation and miscommunication among the nursing staff can be reduced (Hughes et al., 2008).
The implementation of the electronic communication system will incorporate the standardization of the communication at the organizational level and hence, it will be incorporated by the nursing staff in an effective manner. The barriers related to the human factors can also hinder the effective implementation of the communication systems and such barriers incorporate the prevalence of the communication between the individual and environment. In this instance, the communication efficiency is disrupted due to the lack of supportive environment in the healthcare setting and hence, the nursing staff may not be comfortable or integrated with the external environment. In this situation, it is required that the concerned authorities utilize the adequate mentoring strategies in order to enlighten the nursing staff with the significance of effective communication in the healthcare setting so that they can be motivated to integrate with the environment (Hughes et al., 2008).
The prominent barriers comprehends the acceptance of the technological or system change from the nursing staff in order to enhance the communication. The rigid behavior among the nursing staff towards the new system can effect the patient care quality in a negative manner due to the prevalence of the handoffs in the healthcare setting. Therefore, it is required to enlighten the respective nursing staff with respect to the health related concerns that prevail due to the lack of effective communication (Streeter, 2010).
However, the implementation of the systematic and electronic procedures in the healthcare settings can incur cost and require adequate equipment, which may not be possible for the healthcare organization. Therefore, the communication checklists can be developed that are required to be followed by the nursing staff while carrying out their work related responsibilities and the barrier related to the cost of the procedure implementation can be mitigated (Blouin, 2011).
The workplace culture also plays a prominent role in the development and implementation of new systems and it can also hinder the implementation of the communication systems in the healthcare setting in order to hinder the extent of handoffs. The healthcare organizations where the lack of communication prevails in the cultural context and the clinical and nursing staff does not feel obligated in order to incorporate the communication procedures, then the systematic cultural change is required to be incorporated at the organizational level (Blouin, 2011). The knowledge about the prevailing errors due to lack of communication can be identified by the clinical and nursing staff and they can incorporate their consent in the development and implementation of the adequate strategies to enhance the communication in the workplace setting (Hughes et al., 2008).
The miscommunication in the healthcare organizations incorporate negative effectives on the healthcare quality. It also questions the integrity of the organizations and their staff because the healthcare organizations are required to focus on enhancing the wellbeing of the patients by remaining proactive and responsive towards the identified communication and systematic gaps (Blouin, 2011). Therefore, in order to address the issue related to the lack of communication, it is required to develop the standard communication procedures so that they can be implemented at the organizational level and the clinical and nursing staff possesses adequate knowledge about the effectiveness of the standard communication procedure so that it can be implemented and utilized in such manner, that it enhances the patient care quality (Blouin, 2011).
References
Blouin, A. S. (2011). Improving hand-off communications: new solutions for nurses. Journal of nursing care quality, 26(2), 97-100.
Hughes, R. G., Friesen, M. A., White, S. V., & Byers, J. F. (2008). Handoffs: Implications for nurses. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2649/
Streeter, A. C. R. (2010). What nurses say: Communication behaviors associated with the competent nursing handoff.
