Patient and nurse preferences for implementation of bedside handover: Do they agree? Findings from a discrete choice experiment.
To describe and compare patients' and nurses' preferences for the implementation of bedside handover.



Discrete choice experiment describing handover choices using six characteristics: whether the patient is invited to participate; whether a family member/carer/friend is invited; the number of nurses present; the level of patient involvement; the information content; and privacy.



Two Australian hospitals.



Adult patients (n=401) and nurses (n=200) recruited from medical wards.



Mean importance scores for handover characteristics estimated using mixed multinomial logit regression of the choice data.



Both patient and nurse participants preferred handover at the bedside rather than elsewhere (P<.05). Being invited to participate, supporting strong two-way communication, having a family member/carer/friend present and having two nurses rather than the nursing team present were most important for patients. Patients being invited to participate and supporting strong two-way communication were most important for nurses. However, contrary to patient preferences, having a family member/carer/friend present was not considered important by nurses. Further, while patients expressed a weak preference to have sensitive information handed over quietly at the bedside, nurses expressed a relatively strong preference for handover of sensitive information verbally away from the bedside.



All participants strongly support handover at the bedside and want patients to participate although patient and nurse preferences for various aspects of bedside handover differ. An understanding of these preferences is expected to support recommendations for improving the patient hospital experience and the consistent implementation of bedside handover as a safety initiative.
Norwich Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, UK.|School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
Jennifer A
JA
Whitty
Centre for Applied Health Economics, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Nathan, Qld, Australia.
Jean
J
Spinks
Centre for Quality and Patient Safety, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic., Australia.|National Centre of Research Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalised Patients, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia.|Alfred Health, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
Tracey
T
Bucknall
National Centre of Research Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalised Patients, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia.
Georgia
G
Tobiano
National Centre of Research Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalised Patients, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Qld, Australia.
Wendy
W
Chaboyer
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D003142:Communication; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D062209:Patient Handoff; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000379:methods*; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology*
communication; discrete choice experiment; nursing; patient safety; preferences