Nursing Handover Experiences and Perspectives in the Critical Care Unit at Murang’a County Referral Hospital, Kenya
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Date
2023-11
Authors
Murigi, Mwangi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Continuity in delivery of nursing care to patient in the critical care unit is of utmost
importance. To achieve this consistency, nurses engage in a process of transfer of patients’
clinical information in the form of nursing handover, The adoption of various handover
procedures result in variation of the information exchanged. In the critical care unit, the
intricacy of the patient condition compounded by the advanced patient monitoring
translates into a more complex nature of the nursing handover. Despite the existence of
handover guidelines and formats, gaps have been detected regarding the contents of the
handover and its effects on the continuity of care.
The focus of the study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of nurses with
nursing handover in the critical care unit. To realize the aim of the proposed study, a
phenomenological qualitative design was adopted while utilizing a deductive approach. Indepth interviews were carried out on nine critical care nurses from the Murang’a County
Referral Hospital after obtaining ethical approval from relevant institutions. Thematic
analysis was done manually for the qualitative data. The study results showed that critical
care nurses believed they were individually equipped with adequate knowledge to carry
out effective departmental and interdepartmental handover. The existence of handover
policies in the critical care unit was considered a major enabler of the handover. They also
believed that strained human resource, lack of standardized handover tools and deviation
from the set handover rules negatively impacted the handover process. Furthermore, they
reported perceived insufficiency in the management’s role in handover evaluation and
feedback. Moreover, all participants advocated for improvement of the current handover
practices for improved quality of patient care as well as sense of self-accomplishment
among the nurses. There are pertinent implications in the findings of this research for
critical care nurses, nurses in other departments and policy makers. Based on the study
findings the handover process would benefit from enhanced adherence to the existing
handover policies. Handover training targeting nurses in other departments would promote
communication of patient information between critical care unit and other departments.
Periodic audits of the handover documentation and process with subsequent feedback
would be acontrol for evaluation of the handover. Further, addressing scarcity of resources
and implementing the nurses’ perceived strategies would ensure a seamless handover
Description
A Research Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Nursing (Critical Care) in the School of Health Sciences, Kenyatta University, November, 2023
Keywords
Nursing Handover Experiences, Critical Care Unit, Murang’a County Referral Hospital, Kenya