Antoinette David
RMIT University, Australia
Title: Nursing perspectives on the role of nursing ‘end of shift’ verbal handover
Biography
Biography: Antoinette David
Abstract
The intrinsic nature of nursing necessitates continuity of care, a concept enabled informally through verbal handover. Nurses ritualistically practice verbal handover to provide focus and direction for the oncoming nurse. Th e following research will report on phase 1 of a 2-phase study examining the nurse’s perspective of verbal handover. Phase-1 of the research was undertaken using Grounded Th eory Methodology, a qualitative study design that is philosophically underpinned by symbolic interactionism. Th e study aimed to identify the role of verbal handover in the provision of nursing care from the perspective of the nurse. Th e participants were 41 Registered Nurses from acute care surgical and medical backgrounds in a metropolitan hospital in Melbourne Australia. Purposive sampling was utilized and data was collected using intensive interviewing techniques in 6 focus groups with approximately 7 members each. Th e data was then coded and analyzed concurrently allowing the categorization of core concepts. Th e research fi nding indicated that communication was the underlying core-concept with linked themes such as relevance of information, duty of care, professional roles of nursing, timelines, scope of practice and modes of handover also infl uencing handover practices. Th ese themes then led to the development of the following theory: Nurses feel the need to be prepared in order to know and care for their patients which in turn identifi es the role of ‘end of shift verbal handover. Th is information will further serve as the foundation for Phase-2 of a Mixed Method study to quantitatively generalize the fi ndings and to identify what information nurses require for them to care for patients. It will also provide an opportunity to review communication in verbal handover from clinician’s perspective.
