Promoting Patient Safety with Perioperative Handoff Communication

Purpose:
Perioperative handoff communication is critical for patient safety. Goals to improve communication of essential care elements,prevent patient harm,adverse events and negative patient outcomes by standardized communication among perioperative care providers.Improve perioperative nurse satisfaction.

Significance:
Effective,standardized communication between care providers at handoff points during the perioperative process facilitates safety, anticipates,and limits complications.Timely,accurate,complete,and unambiguous communication reduces error,improves patient safety,and improves nurse satisfaction.

Strategy and Implementation:
The Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice provided project framework.A multidisciplinary team was formed.The literature review demonstrated sufficient evidence to restructure handoff communication and develop a perioperative specific handoff communication tool.The team completed a Lean Six Sigma current state value stream map of perioperative handoff.The development of a future state value stream map demonstrated waste elimination from the perioperative handoff process.Future state map was adopted for handoff.Perioperative PEARLS was developed and implemented.Each letter in the word PEARLS corresponds with essential elements of care unique to the perioperative patient.The initial phase of the pilot project included the pre-implementation completion of an audit tool using direct observation.Perioperative nurses were provided a PowerPoint™ presentation including handoff communication theory, regulatory requirements,future state value stream map and handoff tool Perioperative PEARLS.

Evaluation:
Paired t-test showed statistically significant increase in mean scores suggesting structured handoff process and perioperative specific handoff tool is effective in communicating essential patient information,regulatory standard compliance, perioperative patient safety,and nurse satisfaction.

Implications for Practice:
A standardized perioperative handoff process guiding the transfer of information and care responsibility between nurses reduces the risk of missed information.A perioperative specific tool promotes patient safety by supporting the standardized communication of essential clinical information.