TIP OF THE WEEK
Handing Care Over to Another Healthcare Provider
Agencies face the daily challenge of care transitions, also called handovers or handoffs. A handover is a significant patient safety issue. Handovers are error-prone and variable, creating a vulnerable gap in patient care. Many of these transitions lack the ingredients for what would be defined as an optimal transition or handover. Home health becomes the sender in a handover when the patient is transferred to the emergency room, the physician office, or other care setting.
THINGS TO CONSIDER DURING HANDOVERS:
- Exchange vital information
- Communicate the patient’s status
- Exchange information and assume or pass on responsibility
- Support patient safety
Download a discharge sheet that can work for any handover from one care provider to another.
REMEMBER:
- Care transitions are not optional
- Handovers between healthcare settings and providers occur daily
In addition to using a discharge sheet, the Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR) communication technique is another key component to providing a seamless handover. Click here to download the MedQIC SBAR tool.
RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
Cardiac Care Concerns Teleconference Recording Available on CD-ROM
Date recorded: March 6, 2008
Speaker: Kathy Machingo, RN, BSN, CNA-BC, Manager of the CHG Clinics for St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth Health Centers
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the pathophysiology of heart failure.
- Develop a plan of care that includes preventable measures for heart failure.
- Describe the reportable symptoms and early interventions for worsening heart failure.
- Describe clinical implications of core medications for heart failure treatment.
Click here to order today
(Allow 10 business days for delivery)
IN THE NEWS
MAYO RESEARCHERS SAY ECG STANDARDS SHOULD BE REVISED FOR ELDERLY
March 14, 2008 -- Mayo Clinic -- Researchers at the Mayo Clinic suggest that the established "normal" ranges for evaluating electrocardiograms for persons over 80 years old should be "revisited." The recommendation comes in a study published today in the American Journal of Geriatric Cardiology. | Read the release | Read the abstract
MARCH IS NATIONAL NUTRITION MONTH® (PDF)
March 2008 -- CMS -- Please join with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in promoting increased awareness of nutrition, healthful eating, and the medical nutrition therapy (MNT) benefit covered by Medicare. | Read more (PDF)
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Ohio Council for Home Care – Upcoming Education
- March 28th – Home Care 101
- April 11th – Hospice 101
- April 15th-16th – OASIS Revisited
- May 13th-15th – Breaking the Code – Competency in Diagnostic Coding
Health Policy Institute of Ohio: Regional Meetings on the Ohio Family Violence Prevention Project
- April 4th in Youngstown
- April 11th in Cleveland
- May 2nd in Toledo
- May 9th in Lima
- May 16th in Cincinnati
- May 23rd in Zanesville
The Tip of the Week Archive is available on the Ohio KePRO Web Site.
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