Asian Nurs Res.  2017 Sep;11(3):216-222. 10.1016/j.anr.2017.08.001.

Nurses' Opinions of Patient Involvement in Relation to Patient-centered Care During Bedside Handovers

• Khuan L
• Hanafiah Juni M

• KMID: 2416445
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.anr.2017.08.001

Abstract

PURPOSE
Advocates for societal change and consumerism have been instrumental in popularizing patient involvement in various aspects of health care. Patient involvement in bedside handovers during shift changes should facilitate patient-centered care. This study's purpose was to explore Malaysian nurses' opinions about patient involvement during bedside handovers, and whether patient involvement during bedside handovers reflected patient-centered care.
METHODS
A qualitative study with four focus-group discussions was conducted with 20 registered nurses from general wards in a Malaysian public hospital. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit participants' opinions. NVivo 10 software was used for data management and content analysis was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
Several participants used inconsistent methods to involve patients in bedside handovers and others did not involve the patients at all. The participants' interpretations of the concept of patient-centered care were ambiguous; they claimed that patient involvement during bedside handovers was impractical and, therefore, not reflective of patient-centered care. Some nurses' subjective views of patient involvement as impractical during bedside handovers were manifested in their deliberate exclusion of patients from the handover process.
CONCLUSIONS
Changes in patient involvement and nursing practices congruent with patient-centered care require that nurse educators in hospital settings reform nursing education to focus on fostering of communication skills needed to function in nurse-patient partnerships. Guidelines for patient involvement consistent with patient-centered values should be developed using ward nurses' subjective views and introduced to all registered nurses in practice.

Keyword

focus groups; patient-centered care; patient handover; patient involvement

MeSH Terms

Delivery of Health Care
Education, Nursing
Focus Groups
Foster Home Care
Hospitals, Public
Humans
Nurses
Nursing
Patient Handoff
Patient Participation*
Patient-Centered Care*
Patients' Rooms