title: Living for the weekend: electronic documentation improves patient handover.
abstract: With increasing shift work the importance of effective handover is becoming more widely recognised, resulting in the production of guidelines on written handover documentation. A particular area of poor compliance was handover from the week to weekend teams for medical inpatients, as shown through an audit cycle. Full implementation of any guidelines can be time and financially costly. However, a simple, minimal cost, electronic-based list improved the quantitative measures of written handover, particularly in areas of patient location, resuscitation status and investigations. Qualitative data showed multiple benefits, but also problems with logistics in computer terminals, networks and access. Solutions to such problems are discussed, with the importance of carefully implemented longer-term changes being emphasised.
authors.affiliation: Royal United Hospital, Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust. matthew.govier@nhs.net
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Govier
authors.forename: Pippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Medcalf
mesh_terms: D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D004282:Documentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008330:Management Audit / Q000379:methods; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*