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The handover: uncovering the hidden practices of nurses
journal contribution
posted on 2000-12-01, 00:00 authored by Elizabeth ManiasElizabeth Manias, A StreetThis paper considers the ways in which the nursing handover involves a complex network of communication that impacts on nursing interactions. The critical ethnographic study upon which this paper is based involved a research group of six nurses who worked in one critical care unit. Data-collection methods involved professional journalling, participant observation, and individual and focus group interviews. The nursing handover took on many forms and served different purposes. At the start of a shift, the nurse coordinator of the previous shift presented a 'global' handover of all patients to oncoming nurses. Nurses proceeded then to the bedside handover, where the intention changed from one that involved a broad overview of patients, to one that concentrated on a patient's individual needs. Data analysis identified five practices for consideration: the global handover serving the needs of nurse coordinators; the examination; the tyranny of tidiness; the tyranny of busyness; and the need to create a sense of finality. In challenging nurses' understanding of these practices, they can become more sensitive to other nurses' needs, thus promoting the handover process as a site for collaborative and supportive communication.
History
Journal
Intensive and critical care nursingVolume
16Issue
6Pagination
373 - 383Publisher
ElsevierLocation
Amsterdam, The NetherlandsPublisher DOI
ISSN
0964-3397Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2000, Harcourt Publishers LtdUsage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Anthropology, CulturalAttitude of Health PersonnelAuthoritarianismCommunicationContinuity of Patient CareCooperative BehaviorCritical CareFocus GroupsHumansInterprofessional RelationsNurse AdministratorsNursing Methodology ResearchNursing Staff, HospitalNursing, SupervisoryPatient Care PlanningSocial SupportSurveys and Questionnaires
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