Handoff – barriers and outcome indicators: systematic literature review

• Autor(a) principal: Neves, Francisco
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Mendes, Maria Manuela, Veludo, Filipa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34632/cadernosdesaude.2022.11651

Introduction: handoff consists of transmitting relevant information to the continuity of care to the patient and is a way of transferring responsibility for the patient to another caregiver. As quality of care and patient safety are the fundamental pillars that guide our practices, there are still aspects to improve in order to perform an effective handoff. Objectives: identify the barriers to effective handoff and identify the outcome indicators on the handoff. Methodology: given the nature of the question and according to the level of evidence available, it was decided to conduct a systematic review of the literature. The research was conducted in the period between 2008-2019, and the sample consisted of 22 studies divided by the research questions. Results: 12 barriers to handoff were identified in the 8 selected studies, divided into 3 categories: environment, information and professionals. For the outcome indicators in handoff, 12 indicators were identified in the 14 selected studies, divided into 3 categories: patient-related, handoff-related, and professional-related. Conclusions: by identifying the barriers to effective handoff, it is possible to implement quality improvement projects based on eliminating or diluting the identified barriers. For the implementation of continuous improvement projects, evaluations of the effectiveness of the interventions made are needed, by identifying the factors sensitive to handoff quality.