Article Writing Homework Help

Create a 10 pages page paper that discusses handover of care. The handover of care can essentially be described as the transfer of the information regarding a patient’s medical condition to another doctor, nurse or other medical personnel, either verbally or through written records. Whilst healthcare practices have steadily been improving, it still holds true that the handover of care is seen as a weak link in this profession.

In many hospitals, in-patients see a substantial number of medical workers and it is essential that information handover occurs in a manner in which there is a continuity of care. In a study carried out in New Zealand, it was seen that the average patient requires the care of up to six doctors and a surgical patient sees ten doctors (Ferran et al, 2008 from Whitt et al, 2007). This number is likely to be valid for many countries in the Western world and so highlights the importance of effective communication between medical personnel so that the quality of care is maintained throughout with no human errors.

&nbsp.Two other studies will be looked at which deal with handover in the intensive care unit and were carried out by Catchpole et al, 2007 and by Smith et al, 2009. The final study is a case study by Kassean and Jagoo, 2005 and looks at nursing handover from a traditional to a bedside manner. These studies are not specific to any one country and instead range from the UK to Mauritius. It seems fair to say that the handover of care is an important aspect in any hospital and this is what will be examined. The methodology used to assess the handover of care will be given a brief description of followed by a summary of the results to gauge whether the quality of handover of care between medical personnel is at par with what it should be.