SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-The Post-Operative Handoff: A Multisite Survey of the Perceptions and Preferences of Pediatric Hospitalists and Surgeons

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This multisite survey studied how pediatric hospitalists and surgeons perceive and prefer post-operative handoffs for children admitted to the acute care inpatient unit. The motivation was that communication errors during post-op transfer can cause harm and there are no standard guidelines for verbal handoff content or timing.<br /><br />Researchers developed and validated a cross-sectional survey with literature review, faculty interviews, expert review, pilot testing, and cognitive interviews. The survey, sent to hospitalists and surgeons at four Greater Los Angeles centers in 2021, asked about 37 possible handoff elements and when handoffs should occur.<br /><br />Of 224 clinicians invited, 97 responded (43.3%): 70 hospitalists and 27 surgeons. Fifteen elements were rated “extremely essential” by a majority of respondents. These included the procedure indication and procedure performed, operative course and significant intraoperative events, devices placed intraoperatively, significant PACU events, post-op diet and activity restrictions, medications to continue or hold, pain control, antibiotics, anticoagulation, needed labs/imaging, potential complications, and specific triggers to contact the surgical team.<br /><br />A key finding was that surgeons believed 33 of the 37 handoff items were communicated more often than hospitalists believed they were, suggesting important gaps in perception and possible communication inconsistency. Hospitalists and surgeons also differed on ideal handoff timing.<br /><br />The authors conclude that the 15 essential elements could form a practical handoff checklist for post-op transfers. Implementing such a checklist may improve communication, clinician satisfaction, and patient outcomes. They recommend quality improvement efforts, broader use of the validated survey, and follow-up qualitative research to better understand the differences identified.

Asset Subtitle

Stephen Overcash

Meta Tag

Author List Christopher Gayer, Joyce Koh, Mark H. Corden, Stephen Overcash

Category Research

Concept Standardized Verbal Handoff

Concept Postoperative Patient

Concept Clinical Information

Concept Handoff Checklist

Concept Pediatric Patient

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Presenting Author Stephen Overcash

Track Pediatric

Keywords

pediatric hospitalists

surgeons

post-operative handoff

acute care inpatient unit

communication errors

handoff checklist

survey validation

operative course

PACU events

patient safety

Standardized Verbal Handoff

Postoperative Patient

Clinical Information

Handoff Checklist

Pediatric Patient