[Structured patient handovers in perioperative medicine : Rationale and implementation in clinical practice]

Abstract

Clear and consistent communication is pivotal for well-functioning teamwork, in operating theatres as well as intensive care units. However, patient handovers significantly vary between specialties and locations. If communication is not well structured, it might increase the risk for mishaps and malpractice. Therefore, implementing structured handover protocols is pivotal. The perioperative setting is a high-risk environment that is prone to communication failures due to operational design (frequent change of shift due to working time restrictions) and a high work load and multitasking (operating room management, short surgery times, concurrent emergencies). Hence teamwork in the operating room and intensive care unit requires clear and consistent communication. In the perioperative setting, the patient is transferred several times: from the ward to operating room, to recovery, intermediate care/intensive care unit and back to normal ward. This necessitates multiple handovers. Since 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) requests a structured handover concept that processes all relevant information in a predefined order. The SBAR concept (situation, background, assessment, recommendation) is an intuitive communication concept that can improve quality of patient handovers. This underlines the clinical relevance of a structured handover concept that leads to improved outcomes for every patient.In this review, basic measures for a clear and consistent communication are presented. These are pivotal for an effective teamwork and for ensuing patient safety. Furthermore, we will focus on possibilities to implement structured approaches but also on potential barriers of implementation. Communication failure among different health care providers can be identified more easily and hopefully can be eliminated.

Keywords: Communication tool; Implementation; Patient safety; Potential barriers; SBAR.