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The emergency department is a complex environment in which reliable communication is vital for safe patient care. Communication during nurse shift report can be risky without an effective report process in practice. Reliability improves with the use of a standardized, patient-centered nurse handoff process. Quality improvement methods were used to promote reliable information exchange during nurse shift handoff through the implementation of a standardized, patient-centric bedside report process. Forty-six hospital-based emergency nurses participated in the project. Outcomes were measured through observation of bedside report process, nurse, and patient surveys. Of 13 handoffs observed, 92% occurred at the bedside and 54% of patients actively participated in the report process. The offgoing nurses adopted most elements of the handoff process, while the oncoming nurses were less successful. Nurses believed that the new process influenced their ability to respond to patient needs and patients were more satisfied with nurses. A structured, patient-centered bedside handoff process can reduce safety risk and promote satisfactionwith care through reliable information exchange. This implementation template for bedside handoff engages staff and patients while translating best practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miscommunication is a large contributing factor to hospital sentinel events. Communication with nurses is a component of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. The HCAHPS survey not only assesses patient satisfaction but also impacts how hospitals are reimbursed. A literature review reveals that nursing bedside shift positively impacts patient satisfaction and nurse communication. There is limited research on how to implement bedside report as well as what to include during report. A pilot study evaluated an educational intervention and its impact on nurses' compliance with bedside report. The study also evaluated whether bedside report compliance affected HCAHPS scores. A test of independent proportions showed that overall compliance scores increased significantly from period 1 (46%) to period 3 (81%), z = 2.23, P = -.017, one-tailed. HCAHPS scores for nursing communication went from 69.9% in quarter 1 of 2015 to 73.8% in quarter 4 of 2016, but there was no statistically significant change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients' perceptions of satisfaction, understanding, participation, and feelings of safety were significantly correlated with the frequency of bedside handoff. Mean responses to survey items in these areas were significantly higher for patients who "always" experienced bedside handoff than for those who experienced it sporadically. Quality improvement strategies were effective in increasing the frequency of bedside handoff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nursing shift report on the medical-surgical units of a large teaching hospital was modified from a recorded report to a blend of both recorded and bedside components. Comparisons between baseline and postimplementation data indicated increased patient satisfaction and nurse perception of accountability and patient involvement but reduced nurse perceptions of efficiency and effectiveness of report. Patient falls at shift change and medication errors were reduced, whereas nurse overtime remained unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Midwestern, 532-bed, acute care, tertiary, Magnet® designated teaching hospital identified concerns about fall rates and patient and nurse satisfaction scores. Research has shown that the implementation of bedside report has increased patient safety and patient and nurse satisfaction. An evidence-based practice change incorporating bedside report into standard nursing care was implemented and evaluated over a four-month time period on three nursing units. Fall rates, HCAHPS and Press Ganey® scores, and nurses' response to a satisfaction survey were measured before and after the project implementation. This article begins with the background of the problem and literature review, and then presents the project methods, measures, and data analysis. Results demonstrated that patient fall rates decreased by 24%, and nurse satisfaction improved with four of six nurse survey questions (67%) having percentage gains in the strongly agree or agree responses following implementation of bedside report. HCAHPS and Press Ganey® results demonstrated improvement in Press Ganey® scores on two of the three nursing units. In this project, implementation of bedside report had a positive impact on patient safety, patient satisfaction, and nurse satisfaction. The authors conclude with discussion of findings and implications for nursing management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]