College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

Summer 8-21-2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Young-Me Lee, PhD, RN

Second Advisor

Elizabeth Florez, PhD, RN

Third Advisor

Julia Feczko, DNP, CRNA

Abstract

Standardized handoff is critical to providing safe and effective patient care. Limited studies assess the need for developing a handoff tool for anesthesia providers.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the need for a standardized anesthesia handoff tool and to identify the most essential components to develop an anesthesia handoff tool.

Descriptive survey design was utilized. Anesthesia providers were asked to complete an online survey.

Fifty-three of 82 (64%) respondents did not currently use a systematic process during anesthesia handoff. Most (73%) felt they were given inadequate information and forty (48.8%) sometimes discovered information that was not shared by the prior anesthesia provider. The most frequently provided components by respondents were airway type, airway difficulty, analgesia, anesthetic type, invasive lines, patient medical history, procedure, and vital signs. The most frequently received were airway difficulty, invasive lines, medical history, and procedure.

Most participants perceived that anesthesia providers currently provide inadequate handoff. Anesthesia providers indicated the most essential components for effective anesthesia handoff were: airway difficulty, invasive lines, medical history, procedure/case-specific concerns, allergies, medications and plan/goals. The study findings guided the development of the concise and efficient TIME (transaction, induction, maintenance, emergence) anesthesia handoff tool.

Keywords: anesthesia, handoff, handover, communication, checklist

SLP Collection

yes

Included in

Nursing Commons

Share

COinS