HANDING AND TAKING OVER REPORTS

Currently Nurses are responsible for giving technical care to patients who are acutely ill
in the Hospital. For smooth and efficient transfer of care the handover report must be detailed
and systematic. Many systems of handing over the care are used. The the use of handing and
taking over reports has detailed the many bits of information which needs to be communicated to
the care giver who is commencing care.

DEFINITION
Nursing handover and taking over is defined as the transfer of responsibility and
accountability for patient care from one provider or team of providers to another. (Australian
Medical Association, 2006)
PURPOSES

 It is a key initiative to improve patient safety

 It promotes a patient centred approach to care
 It can improve patient safety and increase both patient and nurse satisfaction.
 Facilitates more accurate information exchange, and provides nurses with the opportunity
to work in partnerships with their patients.
 It assists in identifying care priorities.
FUNCTIONS
 To sharing patient information
 Opportunities for teaching
 Building group cohesion
 Providing comprehensive and quality care to patient
TYPES:

 Oral Report.
 Written Report.

ORAL REPORTS:
Oral reports are given when the information is for immediate use and not for
permanency. They may be based on matters included in a written report.It is usually done by
nurses during the time of handing and taking over by the patient and what changes.

WRITTEN REPORTS:
There are several types of written reports. Reports are written when the information is to
be used by several people or is more or less of permanent value.
TYPES OF WRITTEN REPORTS:

 Day & night reports of patients

 Census reports
 Interdepartmental reports
 Interagency reports[ PH nurse, school health nurse]
 Special reports on unusual condition found in patient which may lead to complaints or
law suits, reports on accidents to patients, visitors and personal mistakes in medication,
complaints of patients and visitors, death and birth reports etc.

OBJECTIVES:
 Reports are essential tools of communication between the members of the health team.
By giving good reports, the information about changes that are taking place in the
patient’s general health ,the results of treatment which are unusual are significant are
exchanged among the members throughout the day.
 Good reports will indicate the efficiency of health team in caring out their assignment.
 Good reports will avoid the duplication of work.
 Reports will tell us why a particular procedure is done or not done.
 Good reports will help the relieving personnel to plan the future care of patients without
wasting time unnecessarily.
 Patients receive better care when the reports are thorough and give all pertinent data.
When they are inadequate, it is possible for medications or treatments to be duplicated or
omitted.
 Good reports will tell us about the problems relating to supplies and equipments.
 Good report is a legal document.

HANDING AND TAKING OVER REPORT:

Hand-over relates to the process of passing patient-specific information from one
caregiver to another, from one team of caregivers to the next, or from caregivers to the patient
and family for the purpose of ensuring patient care continuity and safety.
Hand-over also relates to the transfer of information from one type of health-care
organization to another, or from the health-care organization to the patient’s home. Information
shared usually consists of the patient’s current condition, recent changes in condition, ongoing
treatment and possible changes or complications that might occur.
Patient care hand-over occur in many settings across the continuum of care, including
admission from primary care, physician sign-out to a covering physician, nursing change-of-shift
reporting, nursing report on patient transfer between units or facilities, anaesthesiology reports to
post-anaesthesia recovery room staff, emergency department communication with staff at a
receiving facility during a patient’s transfer, and discharge of the patient back home or to another
facility.

The nursing handover report is a vital method of passing on essential information to

nurses on the next shift. Alternative methods of handover, such as bedside reporting, or tape-
recording or writing reports, can help refine the process and make it more relevant to practice.

TYPES OF HANDING AND TAKING OVER REPORTS:

 REPORTS AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE NURSING TEAM

 REPORTS BETWEEN THE HEAD NURSE AND HER ASSISTANT
 REPORTS BETWEEN THE HEAD NURSE AND THE NURSING SUPERINTENDENT
 REPORTS ON MISTAKES, ACCIDENTS AND COMPLAINTS
 REPORTS ABOUT SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENTS
 REPORTS AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE NURSING TEAM:

Each members of the nursing team gives a detailed report to the team leader either at end of
the day’s work or whenever she or he leaves the ward. Each nurse reports to the head nurse
consciously and precisely on each patients and also any assignment that is undone.

A report is given at any time when the responsibility for the patient care is turned over from
one person to another. Eg: a day nurse reports to the night receiving nurse and vice versa or a
nurse reports to the relieving nurse on taking leave.

In is a custom to introduce each patient to the relieving nurse and explain the medical orders,
nursing order and plan of care for each patient.

 REPORTS BETWEEN THE HEAD NURSE AND HER ASSISTANT

The assistant nurse is expected to take over the supervision of the patient care whenever the
head nurse is absent. There can be great deal of confusion if the head nurse possesses important
information which she as failed to tell to the assistant, on her taking leave from the ward. In
order to avoid such confusions the head nurse keeps on giving information to the assistant nurse.
She gives the information about the conditions of all patient, the treatment they are receiving ,
observations that are to be made, problems of staffing and the plans for meeting them, expected
admissions, discharges, treatment and changes in the routines of the ward. When the head nurse
returns after hours or days of absents, the assistant nurse reports to her all the changes in the
situation including the conditions of the patient and the happening during her absence.
 REPORTS BETWEEN THE HEAD NURSE AND THE NURSING
SUPERINTENDENT

The day, evening and night reports are sent to the nursing superintendent at regular intervals.
This will includes the reports of all seriously ill patients, the newly admitted patients undergone
surgery, any accidents that have taken place, the daily census etc. She also reports to the nursing
superintendent the problems that are met with the care of a patient. Eg inadequate supplies of
articles.

 REPORTS ON MISTAKES, ACCIDENTS AND COMPLAINTS :

Writing detailed report on mistakes or accidents that has taken place in the care of patients
and the complaints made by the patients or visitors and sending them to the appropriate authority
is helpful to prevent similar incidents in the future and to improve the nursing care. Serious
complaints if not well handled may result in embarrassment of hospital. When a report of this
nature is written it should include an objective statement of the complaint, the justification for it
as seen by the nurse, measures taken to overcome the dissatisfaction, the results and the names of
the people involved. It has to dated and signed.

 REPORTS ABOUT SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENTS:

Reporting about supply and equipment in the ward is done by nurse manager and staff nurse.
Report must be kept up to date, budgets controlled, and supply documents noted and filed.
Equipment found to be unserviceable must be turned in or sent for repair. As a manager, the
nurse is responsible for accountability of supplies and equipment, whether used, disposed of, or
sent for repair.
Maintenance and serviceability of equipment are also management responsibilities.
Equipment must be checked for proper function, inspected for damage or leaks, calibrated, and
tested on a regular basis. Much supply and equipment maintenance is done on the "user" level
and, again, it is the responsibility of the nurse manager to be certain that the individuals using the
equipment are familiar with the correct procedures for its operation and maintenance.

Daily review of supplies on hand and frequent checking of the condition of equipments and
supplies in the ward will minimize the amount of reporting which the staff will need to do.

To prevent over ordering and errors in ordering reporting about list of equipment with
specifications, and of supplies is needed among the nurses.
 1. Preparation
• Patient allocation
• Update handover sheet

2. Introduction
• Outgoing staff greet patient •
Outgoing staff introduces
oncoming staff to patient

3. Information Exchange
• Clinical condition
• Tests and procedures
• ADL assistance
• Discharge planning
• Queries from oncoming staff

4. Patient Involvement
• Ask patients if they have
questions or comments

5. Safety Scan
• Call bell within reach
• Equipment functioning
• Access to mobility aids
• Tubes and lines checked
• Medication chart reviewed
• Bedside chart review

Next patient

Schematic Overview of Handover and Taking Over

Format for Handing and Taking Over

Bed Patient Age Doctor Diagnosi Admission Conditio Signature
name s Date n
CONCLUSION:

Reports are of prime importance both to good ward administration and to a well
functioning hospital. A report to be of greatest use and to save time and to prevent duplication of
work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 Basavanthappa, B. T., “Nursing Administration”, 2 nd Edition, Jaypee Brothers Publishers,
New Delhi, 2008.P-250-252
 N.W.Yalayyaswamy, ``Ward Management and supervision and professional Adjustments
and Trends for Nurses in india,’’Gajana book publishers,Bangalore.2003.pp 240 – 246.
 Barbara kozier,Glenora Erb,Janice.s.Hayes,Kathleen koernig Blais,``Professional Nursing
practice – concepts and perspectives’’5th edition,Dorling Kindearsly publishers,New
Delhi,2006.pp 42 to 46