Development and Evaluation of Standardized Inter-Shift Handover Tool in General Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Missing critical information during handover interrupts the continuity of care and hazards the patients' safety. Most of the studies evaluated the use of IPASS to improve handover of critically ill patients from one hospital area to another, but little was found to evaluate handover during nursing shift change in the general intensive care units (ICUs). Objective: Develop and evaluate the standardized IPASS inter-shift handover tool in the general ICUs. Settings: Five general ICUs at the Alexandria Main University Hospital. Subjects: Two samples were enrolled in this study. The first sample was 77 experts who participated in the development of IPASS handover information. The second sample was 100 bedside critical care nurses who used and clinically evaluated the IPASS handover. Tools: Two tools were used to collect the data of the study. Tool I was the IPASS Handover Information Questionnaire. Tool II was the Evaluation of the Current Handover Questionnaire. Results: Consensus on important and relevant IPASS handover information was achieved after the second e-Delphi round (all p < 0.001). 37% of the critical care nurses agreed that IPASS handover was clinically usable, and 53% strongly agreed on its clinical usability. Conclusion: The output of this study is an expert consensus and clinically usable IPASS handover information that is specific for nurses' inter-shift handover in the general ICUs. Recommendations: Use of the specific IPASS intershift handover information in the general ICUs.