Authors (including presenting author) :
Ng K Y
Affiliation :
Intensive Care Uint, North District Hospital
Introduction :
Clinical handover (CH) is a high-risk activity in ICU, with potential for discontinuity of care and omission of vital information that may result in adverse events. Hence, the new practice for using "Nursing Weekly Summary" in Computerize Information System (CIS) was designed to help nursing staff to structure their handover communication and present patients’ information in a logical and coherent manner, with the aim of reducing the possibility of miscommunication or misunderstanding between the nursing professionals.
Objectives :
This project aimed to develop and implement a clinical handover tool to guide inter-shift handover between ICU nursing staff and assess nurses' perceptions of using the clinical handover tool "Nursing Weekly Summary" in NDH ICU to allow for evolving improvement and uptake.
Methodology :
The new practice of "Nursing Weekly Summary" was introduced and implemented since March 2020:
-Add new weekly summary on admission date and every Monday A shift
-Update information in summary every shift by case nurse before end of shift duty
-System approach
-Mention date by date
-Highlight main points and special events
A questionnaire “ICU Nurse Survey on Using Weekly Summary” was designed on August 2021 to evaluate nurses’ perceptions of the new practice for CH by using "Nursing Weekly Summary".
The questionnaire included 9 open and closed-ended questions. The target group was all clinical nurses in NDH ICU.
Result & Outcome :
The new practice for using the "Nursing Weekly Summary" was launched out since March 2020. Clinical supervision was performed on Sep 2020. Total 20 days was monitored, and total 158 compliance checks were carried out in either A/P shifts. The mean compliance rate was 1) add new weekly summary on admission/ every Monday (94.94%), and 2) data of weekly summary up to date (98.10%). The overall compliance was good.
The questionnaire “ICU Nurse Survey on Using Weekly Summary” was designed to all clinical nursing staff in NDH ICU. This survey was anonymous. Total 77 out of 78 nurses responded to the questionnaire (98.7 %). The surveys showed a positive result of the new practice for using the "Nursing Weekly Summary". Most of staff agreed that it was easy to use and access. Nurses' satisfaction with handover was improved.
