Conventionalized knowledge: mental health nurses producing clinical knowledge at intershift handovers

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Sociology of Health
• Communication Studies

Background:

• Intershift reports are crucial for clinical knowledge transfer in mental health nursing.
• Effective handover communication is vital for patient safety and continuity of care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the linguistic and social conventions used in intershift clinical knowledge handovers.
• To identify differences between interactional and non-interactional handover processes.
• To explore the impact of handover practices on nurse communication and patient information accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Discursive analysis of field descriptions from prolonged fieldwork.
• Analysis of audio recordings of nurse handovers.
• Application of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified distinct linguistic and social conventions in clinical knowledge handovers.
• Interactional handovers were more substantial but associated with increased uncertainty.
• Handovers led to the silencing of less powerful nurses' voices.
• Patient knowledge conveyed was not always precise or up-to-date.

Conclusions:

• Intershift handovers in mental health nursing involve complex communication dynamics.
• Interactional handovers, while information-rich, can introduce ambiguity and power imbalances.
• Current handover practices may compromise the accuracy and timeliness of patient clinical information.