Implementation of a Standardized Handoff Report for Nurse Anesthetists in the Intraoperative Setting: A Quality Improvement Project

Abstract

The handoff report represents a pivotal point in patient care, during which vital information is communicated between providers. Incomplete handoffs can result in negative consequences, such as patient harm, compromised safety, and dissatisfaction across the healthcare team. This quality improvement project focused on the perceptions of the adequacy of the ‘PATIENT’ mnemonic to facilitate standardized handoffs of anesthetized patients. A pre-intervention survey was distributed to participating CRNAs at a partnering facility and then a standardized handoff tool was introduced that was to be used for two weeks. After the implementation period was completed, the CRNAs were sent a post-intervention survey addressing their perceptions of the handoff tool. Overall, there were differing levels of satisfaction with the handoff tool, and concern of time consumption may have contributed to levels of satisfaction. Limitations were a low number of participants and a short implementation period. A future suggestion is to create a customized handoff tool that is tailored to CRNAs’ specific needs in order to streamline reports and prevent lengthy documentation.