The Effect of Education Program on Registered Nurse Perceptions, Satisfaction and Compliance towards Bedside Handover in a Private Hospital, Malaysia

Abstract

A nursing handover involves one nurse handing over the responsibility of care for a patient to another nurse. Failure of ineffective nursing handover is associated with medication errors, delayed diagnostic testing, adverse reactions, and sentinel events. Critical information related to patient care must be efficiently communicated among registered nurses during bedside handover. This study examined registered nurses' perception, satisfaction, and compliance with bedside handovers in a private hospital in Malaysia. A quasi-experimental study using one group pre and post was conducted. A purposive sampling of 154 registered nurses who had experienced practising bedside report handover participated in the study. Compliance of registered nurses with clinical bedside handover practices was assessed using the bedside handover audit tool. The researchers used the handover evaluation scale to assess the perception of nurses regarding bedside handover. A researcher self-developed questionnaire with seven items on a 5-point Likert scale was used to assess satisfaction among registered nurses. Data was collected from 1st July 2020 to 30th December 2020. The researcher organised a bedside handover training program for the participants, and data was collected pre and post-training. The result shows the perception mean score of the pre-intervention phase as M= 5.68 (SD =.58) and post-intervention phase as M = 5.71 (SD =.38). Satisfaction level before the intervention was M = 4.13 (SD =.47) and after M = 4.31(SD =.41). This study confirmed that compliance with bedside handover (M = 66.69, SD = 5.95) was greater than in the post-intervention phase (M = 99.06, SD = 1.96). Data demonstrated an increase in perception, satisfaction, and compliance after the bedside handover education program. In conclusion, the handover practice of bedside reports and education training promotes positive working conditions, employee satisfaction, and a safe work environment, resulting in significantly increased efficiency, patient outcomes, and preservation of a safe workplace.