[Medical handovers in ICU: a snapshot of practice in the South West of France].
BACKGROUND
Medical handover is critical for quality of care in ICU. Time assigned to medical handovers can vary across different units, with significant impact on the organization of medical work. We aimed to study the time spent for medical handover in ICU and its variation across academic, general and private hospitals in the area of the South West of France, the Midi-Pyrénées region.


METHODS
Between August and October 2010, we questioned by phone, 86 physicians issued from 19 different ICUs. This prospective observational study mainly focused on four items: unit's characteristics, health diaries organization, medical handovers procedures, and self-assessment of satisfaction for medical handover (numeric scale from 0 to 10).


RESULTS
Eleven general hospital centers, three private hospitals, five university hospitals were concerned by the survey. The mean time spent for medical handover was 59±35 min on monday morning, significantly longer than other days, evening, and to weekend handovers (P<0.001 for all comparisons). When reporting it to the number of ICU bed, the time spent for handover per patient was significantly shorter in private hospital compared to general and academic hospital (P<0.05 for all comparison).


CONCLUSIONS
Time spent for medical handover is important, with an approximate total time of 1h 30 min on monday, and 1h the other days. Physician in private hospitals spend less time for medical handovers. This fact should be considered for medical timework organization, especially in academic hospital and in hospital with large ICU.
Département d'anesthésie-réanimation, CHU Toulouse Purpan, place du Docteur-Baylac, TSA 40031, 31059 Toulouse cedex 9, France. gbrenier2000@hotmail.fr
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Geeraerts
D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D005602:France; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000458:organization & administration; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000458:organization & administration; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012151:Resuscitation