[Effective transfer of information and responsibilities with handover: a literature review]

Effective transfer of information and responsibilities with handover: a literature review.

The simultaneous and interactive transfer of information between health care workers, on patients' conditions is defined handover. The transfer of information implies also the transfer of responsibility and creates the conditions to guarantee patients' safety; however written or verbal handovers are often incomplete, inaccurate and may last longer than feasible for the organization.

The aim of the review was to identify the strategies to guarantee an effective transmission of clinical information with the handover.

The literature was searched in Medline and Cinahl including articles published in English and Italian (limits adults <19 years) up to 2011.

Over 153 articles retrieved, 44 were analyzed. With the manual search further 11 (articles, chapter of books) were obtained. Several methods for organizing handover and selecting the information to pass over were identified. The preferred method is the bedside handover, although its use influenced by the context. As expected, the choice of the model to be used must rely on a series of local factors, above all the organizational model. Conclusions. Further studies are needed to explore the optimal integration of written and verbal information, to avoid redundancies but guaranteeing, at the same time, the transmission of information essential for care planning and patient's safety.