[Patient handover involves numerous safety risks].

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety
• Clinical Communication

Context:

• Modern healthcare necessitates interdisciplinary collaboration across units, departments, and hospitals.
• Effective patient care relies on seamless transitions of responsibility between healthcare professionals.
• Information loss during patient handover poses a significant risk to patient safety and care continuity.

Purpose:

• To identify and analyze common problems encountered during patient handover situations.
• To propose evidence-based solutions for mitigating risks associated with patient care transitions.
• To emphasize the critical nature of patient handover as a vulnerable phase in healthcare delivery.

Summary:

• A literature review of 417 papers, with analysis of 29, identified numerous issues in patient handover processes.
• Key problems include information loss, communication breakdowns, and lack of standardized procedures during care transitions.
• The study underscores the vulnerability of the patient handover phase and its impact on overall care quality.

Impact:

• Highlights the need for focused interventions to improve patient handover protocols.
• Provides a foundation for developing standardized handover tools and training programs.
• Aims to enhance patient safety and reduce medical errors by addressing critical communication gaps in healthcare.