The Role of Interpersonal Communication Competence in Enhancing Intraoperative Hand-Off Quality

Intraoperative hand offs are prone to communication breakdowns that can diminish nurses' self-efficacy and satisfaction, thus compromising patient safety. In this study, a descriptive cross-sectional design was used to examine the relationships between hand-off self-efficacy, satisfaction, and communication competence among OR nurses. Eighty nurses at a South Korean tertiary hospital completed a validated questionnaire for self-efficacy, sending and receiving hand-off satisfaction, and 10 subdomains of communication competence. Canonical correlation analysis identified two significant variates. Higher self-efficacy and both sending and receiving satisfaction were strongly associated with interaction management, social appropriateness, efficiency, and expressiveness. Receiving hand-off satisfaction was also linked to immediacy. These findings indicate that specific communication skills are key to building confidence and satisfaction with intraoperative hand offs. Incorporating these competencies into continuing-education curricula may enhance hand-off quality and contribute to improved surgical patient safety.