1. NO POLICY EXISTS REGARDING SAFE PATIENT
HAND-OFFS DURING TRANSFER OF CARE AT THE
DOUGLAS COUNTY HOSPITAL SURGERY CENTER.
Perioperative Communication and Patient
Hand-offs: Best Practice
Kristi Hoffman
Saint Cloud State University

2. The Importance of Perioperative
Communication
 Potential for adverse effects: Aside from the obvious,
patients undergoing surgery experience adverse effects more often than
patients in any other clinical specialty and disproportionately greater harm
results from surgical errors.
 Multiple Transitions occur during the perioperative experience,
increasing likelihood of error, making effective communication paramount.
Each caregiver through the perioperative process has specific
responsibilities and objectives that are just as different as they are similar.
 Factors that increase error potential include the need
for rapid turnover and increased efficiency. To improve physician
satisfaction and to accelerate throughput for the patient . The hurried
environment is often the backdrop for communication errors and mistakes.

3. Ineffective Communication is the Most
Frequently Cited Root-Cause of Sentinel Events

4. My Investigation
Regarding safe patient hand-offs:
 A procedure DOES exist
 No policy exists
 EBP currently suggests having a policy in
place specific for hand-offs can prevent
errors
 Having a policy will reduce unnecessary
redundancy while encouraging built-in
redundancy of vital facts

5. Why do we have policies?
 In general, having policies and procedures in health
care help to ensure patient safety
 Use Evidence Based Practice (EBP)to maintain
quality of care
 Provides a guideline for staff- if no policy, then what?

6. EBP Recommends:
Use of SBAR
Situation
Background
Assessment
Recommendation

7. My Recommendations
 Consider adding a formal policy that can be referred
to
 Consider a slightly more comprehensive real-time,
verbal hand off
 Additional training for both OR staff and SDC staff
so that both departments have an understanding of
the procedure