Nursing handovers as resilient points of care: linking handover strategies to treatment errors in the patient care in the following shift.
Drach-Zahavy A, Hadid N. Nursing handovers as resilient points of care: linking handover strategies to treatment errors in the patient care in the following shift. J Adv Nurs. 2015;71(5):1135-45. doi:10.1111/jan.12615.
This prospective study examined 200 hospital nurse handovers. Documentation was missing in nearly half of patients' files, and dosage discrepancies were identified in 23% of cases. Use of strategies that emphasized the input and interaction of the incoming team—such as face-to-face verbal updates with questions—were associated with fewer treatment errors.