Imagine overhearing this conversation between two recovery nurses:
Nurse A: “I am looking after Dr C’s patient now. I like it when I receive her patients. She tells me everything I need to know to be able to look after the patient.”
Nurse B: “Lucky you, I have Dr D’s. He just brings the patients through and then walks off without saying anything. I have to comb through his illegible writing on the anaesthetic charts to see what has happened intra-operatively. Just the other day, I had a critical incident because Dr D hadn’t told me that he’d left a throat pack in with the laryngeal mask airway.”
Nurse A: “What happened to the patient?”
Nurse B: “I took the LMA out when the patient woke up but he was struggling to breathe. Dr D had gone by then and I couldn’t get hold of him. I urgently got another anaesthetist and he sorted it out quickly. It was really scary.”
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The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain
and Ireland guidelines state that:
“…the anaesthetist
must formally hand over care of a patient to a recovery room nurse or
other appropriately trained member of staff”.
Although
in the UK there is no specific handover protocol, a structured approach
is important in order to include all the necessary details required to
maximize patient care.
This session will describe the
framework for an efficient and safe handover.