Bedside Nursing Handover

Bedside nursing handover (BNH) and a transition of care occur an average of 3 times per day for a hospitalized patient (Clari et al., 2021). Nursing handover is often time-consuming and considered a high-risk activity, as important information may fail to be relayed appropriately. Still, nurses recognize the importance of providing a concise, clear, and complete handover report. Nursing handover is continually evaluated to make it more efficient and safer for the patient. This article provides a systematic review and meta-synthesis of nursing literature on the barriers and facilitators of BNH versus non-bedside nursing handover as experienced by nurses and patients.

Systematic reviews evaluate research that has already been performed to compile a comprehensive conclusion on a given subject. As such, this article does not compile new research data. Instead, the article compiles data from multiple other studies. In general, the overarching population studied includes nurses and patients in high-income countries with various health care systems.

This article was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) method of meta-aggregation. Additionally, the enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (ENTREQ) guidelines were used for presentation.

BNH was found to increase patient’s time and connection with the nursing team, personalize care, bring awareness to the organization patterns of the unit, increase communication and promote professionalism and emotional exchanges in nursing. However, BNH also recognized potential problems including stress and feelings of inadequacy in front of the patient, redundant transmission of information, and presenting potential opportunities for breaches in patient confidentiality.

As such the article recommends evaluating each unit and circumstances surrounding a patient’s care on that unit prior to implementing a widespread BNH process.

The findings include many “what if” scenarios. Through the compilation of multiple studies, the authors were able to identify many of the issues that may be presented and make suggestions accordingly. Overall, the findings “make sense” but each nursing unit should carefully consider their patient population, workflow, and nursing culture when deciding how and when BNH should be implemented.

Nursing handover remains a time-consuming and risk-laden activity. To ensure patient safety and high-quality nursing care, nurses continue to perform nursing handovers in a variety of forms. Clari et. al (2021) can help nurses recognize the benefit and pitfalls of bedside nursing handover and to identify important considerations when implementing bedside nursing handover on their own units.

Nursing handover remains a time-consuming and risk-laden activity. To ensure patient safety and high-quality nursing care, nurses continue to perform nursing handovers in a variety of forms. Clari et. al (2021) can help nurses recognize the benefit and pitfalls of bedside nursing handover and to identify important considerations when implementing bedside nursing handover on their own units.