Background: Nursing handover is a real-time process in which patient-specific information is passed between nurses to ensure the continuity and safety of patient care. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of quality improvement (QI) projects in improving the intershift nursing handover process. Methods: A computerized search was performed of electronic databases for articles published during 2009-2019 in English or Korean for which the full texts were available. The included studies involved QI projects, handover between nurses, and intershift handover. The QI-MQCS (Quality Improvement Minimum Quality Criteria Set) was used to appraise the quality of QI strategies. Results: The handover methods used in the 22 QI projects could be broadly divided into 2 types: (1) using a standardized communication tool; and (2) involving patient-participation bedside handover. Conclusions: The published research on intershift handover-related QI projects employed standardized communication tools and the patient-participation bedside handover method to reduce adverse events and handover times and increase the satisfaction of patients and nurses. Future studies should measure the changes in patient safety-related outcomes.

This study was conducted to investigate the current status of handoffs, perception of patient safety culture, and degrees of handoff evaluation in small and medium-sized hospitals and identified factors that make a difference in handoff evaluation. This is a descriptive study. 425 nurses who work at small and medium-sized hospitals in South Korea were included in our study. They completed a set of self-reporting questionnaires that evaluated demographic data, handoff-related characteristics, perception of patient safety culture, and handoff evaluation. Results showed that the overall score of awareness of a patient safety culture was 3.65 ± 0.45, the level was moderate. The score of handoff evaluation was 5.24 ± 0.85. Most nurses experienced errors in handoff and most nurses had no guidelines and checklist in the ward. Handoff evaluation differed significantly according to the level of education, work patterns, duration of hospital employment, handoff method, degree of satisfaction with the current handoff method, errors occurring at the time of handoff, handoff guidelines, and appropriateness of handoff education time (P < 0.05). For handoff improvement, guidelines and standards should be established. It is necessary to develop a structured handoff education system. And formal handoff education should be implemented to spread knowledge uniformly.