Nurses' perspectives on shift‐to‐shift handovers in relation to person‐centred nursing home care

Abstract

Abstract Aim The aim of this study was to gain insight into nurses' perspectives on the shift‐to‐shift handover in relation to providing Person‐centred care (PCC) in nursing homes. Background PCC is perceived as the gold standard for nursing home care. To preserve the continuity of PCC, an adequate handover during the nurses' shift change is essential. There is, however, little empirical evidence for what constitutes best shift‐to‐shift nursing handover practices in nursing homes. Design An exploratory qualitative descriptive study. Methods Nine nurses were selected purposively and through snowball sampling from five Dutch nursing homes. Semi‐structured face‐to‐face and telephone interviews were conducted. Analysis relied on Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Results Four main themes were identified related to enabling PCC informed handovers: (1) knowing the resident to be enable to provide PCC was key, (2) the actual handover, (3) additional ways of information transfer and (4) nurses' knowledge of the resident prior to start shift. Conclusion The shift‐to‐shift handover is one way that nurses become informed about residents. Knowing the resident is essential to enable PCC. The fundamental underlying question is to what extent nurses have to know the resident in order to enable PCC. Once that level of detail has been established, in‐depth research is needed to determine the best method for conveying this information to all nurses. Only then can we start to rethink the role of the shift‐to‐shift handover in conveying PCC‐driven information. No Patient or Public Contribution.

Keywords

• continuity of care
• handoff
• handover
• nurses
• nursing homes
• person‐centred care