QI Project Title: Improving Handover Communication In A Tertiary Referral Hospital, Nairobi Kenya
Presented by: Jane Ngivu, MP Shah Hospital
Handing over, which involves the transfer of patient care information between healthcare practitioners is a very critical component of patient care and patient safety in healthcare. Any breakdown at this stage can lead to patient harm. Handing over occurs, but is not limited to the following situations; during shift changes, moving patients from one department to another, and patient care is being taken over by a different doctor or healthcare practitioner.
The efforts led by Jane Ngivu and her team at MP Shah Hospital to enhance the handover process to reduce handover-related incidents to zero and achieve 100% compliance could not go unnoticed. Their strategy involved revising existing handover policies, implementing regular root-cause analyses, introducing Just Culture process models, conducting frequent audits with feedback, continuous staff training, and utilizing standardized tools. Their ultimate goal was to ensure that these interventions were crucial in creating a safe healthcare environment, where no harm occurs to patients, stressing that teamwork and evidence-based best practices are the keys to achieving this goal.
Watch Jane’s submission video below:
Development of standardized handing over tool supports proper standardized handing over process. The staff involved should be trained on the utilization of the tools for effective use. Further, maintaining a culture which supports patient safety, and a culture of continual learning is key in the handover improvement process and overall patient safety.
This is part of the storytelling contest submission for World Patient Safety Month. Read more here.
