Comparing Physician and Nurse Opinions of Team and Individual Handoffs: Does Role Influence Preference?

Abstract

Care transitions are key to patient safety and remain a safety issue despite previous research. This study examines how the design of care transitions impacts different health care professions. Twenty-nine physicians and nurses were interviewed about operating room to intensive care unit care transitions. We compared relationships between work system elements in positive and negative opinions about two sociotechnical system designs: including team or individual handoffs. Nurses did not express positive opinions of individual handoffs or negative opinions of team handoffs, while physicians expressed positive and negative opinions of both. Relationships between work system elements varied by profession in the positive opinions about team handoffs and negative opinions about individual handoffs. Professional needs and culture may be related to the different perceptions of each handoff. Future work should continue to examine professional differences when developing a flexibly standardized process to ensure all users are considered.