Effectiveness of the Practice of Standardized Handover Process Using a Checklist in the Postanesthesia Care Unit: An...

Patient handovers without any structured checklist may omit essential information that might have undesirable consequences for patients.

We sought to determine the effectiveness of a structured postanesthesia care handover (PACH) checklist in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) to reduce adverse clinical outcomes.

A single-center, prospective, pre-postimplementation study was conducted.

Moreover, post-PACH checklist implementation data were collected from 130 participants ( n = 65 in each group) by an independent observer. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS (25.0) version (IBM SPSS statistics). The Chi-square test was used to compare the dichotomous response.

A statistically significant reduction in hypoxemia (21.5% vs. 0; P < 0.001) was observed in the postimplementation group. There were significant improvements in patient information ( P < 0.01), reduction in variations in hemodynamic parameters ( P < 0.01), and improvement in the quality of information transferred concerning surgical procedures ( P < 0.01). The number of phone calls to consultants was significantly lower in the PACH group.

Implementation of the PACH checklist was associated with no hypoxemic events in PACU by improving the quality of communication. The implementation of a structured checklist in PACU should be mandatory in the postoperative intensive care unit.