Key result
OR to ICU handover studies detail ideal structures but only ~23% assess patient safety outcomes.
Why the study?
There is a significant gap in evidence of measured patient outcomes from standardization of OR to ICU handover processes and limited exploration of formal quality improvement methods.
What is known about improving operating room to intensive care handovers and their impact on patient outcomes?
What is known about improving operating room to intensive care handovers and their impact on patient outcomes?
There is a significant gap in the literature regarding the measurement of patient outcomes and the use of formal quality improvement strategies to sustain standardized OR to ICU handover processes.
Gap in OR-ICU handover outcome data; leaves open whether standardized processes or QI methods improve patient safety.
The purpose is to provide a descriptive overview of relevant material exploring improvement of handovers from the operating room (OR) to intensive care unit (ICU). An online search (MEDLINE, Cochrane, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Joanna Briggs), including gray literature and relevant reference lists, was completed. In all, 4574 unique citations were screened and 155 full-text reviews performed; 65 articles were included in the final analysis. The majority of articles discuss an ideal structure for handover (n = 63; 97%); 43 (66%) articles mentioned strategies for implementing such an approach. Only 21 (32%) explicitly described formal quality improvement (QI) methods. Few explored project sustainability and impact of a structured handover on patient safety outcomes (n = 15, 23%). Published literature suggests that there is a significant gap in evidence of measured patient outcomes from standardization of OR to ICU handover processes. Identifying formal QI strategies used to sustain standardized handover processes will allow accurate measurement of patient outcomes.
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Zjadewicz et al. (2018) conducted a review in Operating room to intensive care unit handovers (n=65). Structured handover processes was evaluated on Ideal structure for handover, implementation strategies, formal QI methods, and impact on patient safety outcomes. A scoping review of 65 articles on OR to ICU handovers found that while 97% discussed an ideal handover structure, only 23% explored project sustainability and impact on patient safety outcomes.
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