Postoperative Information Transfers: An Integrative Review.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare communication
• Patient safety

Background:

• Effective communication during patient handovers is critical for patient safety.
• Information transfer from the operating room (OR) to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) is a vulnerable process.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and critique literature on protocols, checklists, and tools for OR-to-PACU information transfer (handovers).
• To provide guidance for selecting appropriate handover instruments.

Main Methods:

• Integrative literature review using the Whittemore and Knafl framework.
• Searched literature from January 2000 to January 2015 for handover instruments.
• Included terms like 'post-operative handover', 'communication', 'checklists', and 'PACU'.

Main Results:

• Seventeen articles describing postoperative handover instruments were identified.
• Instruments were synthesized based on the Donabedian conceptual model.
• Key elements for instrument development were identified.

Conclusions:

• Developing effective handover instruments requires stakeholder input.
• Instruments should incorporate evidence-based practices.
• Leveraging existing instruments is recommended for developing new tools.