The Importance Of Handover In Nursing Care

The function of this piece is to put forward a new proposal for the handing over process at the trust I was established at this past placement. I will not be mentioning staff or service users by name in order to adhere to the NMC’s guidelines on confidentiality,(The Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2015) I will also not be mentioning the name of the hospital I was placed at. If successful, this model could easily be adapted and used in other trusts providing uniformity and consistency in this area across the NHS. At the hospital in question, different methods of handing over were used between wards which, allegedly could hinder bank or cover staff if they were encumbered by their lack of knowledge concerning the process being used. It could
It was initially believed that the presence of family would inhibit care and visiting was, in essence, a way to restrict parents from spending time with their children (Smith and Coleman, 2010). It is now expected for an inclusion policy to be adopted meaning families are seen as a sign of stability for the child and are involved in their care (Coleman et al., 2007). Family-centred care has been refined constantly and is still evolving. It is a social construct shaped by our actions, values, and beliefs, which have come a long way from the 1950’s. Children have moved away from being cared for at home by their parents to being cared for by health care professionals in hospital and excluding the parents. Children’s healthcare needs were being met but not their psychological ones (Smith and Coleman, 2010). An emphasis was put on physical care and asepsis to prevent cross-contamination and the spread of infectious diseases; a significant concern in the 19th and early twentieth century. Care was mechanistic, dependant on routine and lacking in emotional interaction which accurately reflected the behaviourist ideologies adopted at that time to raising children (Darbyshire, 1993).
In was only in the 1950s that family centred care as a social construct began to emerge thanks to Bowlby (1953) who’s findings concerning maternal
Hence why the initial part of the handover is conducted at the nurses station, meaning sensitive information canoot be overheard through and nurses won’t be tempted to avoid discussing sensitive information in case it is overheard and the protection of data is violated (Cahill, 1998). A study into bedside handovers found that this method and location made parents and patients feel more involved, their care was personalised and that they were a person first, this was especially true for when they were introduced at handover.This gave them an indication of who would be looking after them at eh next shift and the opportunity to assure accuracy of information. It was however stated that these feelings also depended on the person conducting the handover, whether they were actively engaging them or treating them as passive listeners (McMurray et al.,