Thorough communication appears to be lacking during morning handovers, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers observed third-year medical student and first and second-year residents during their morning handovers following an overnight shift. They found the on-call trainees omitted 40.4 percent of "clinically important issues" during these morning handovers. Additionally, the trainees did not document any of these issues in the patient's medical record 85.8 percent of the time.
Researchers suggest training programs should utilize educational activities and workflow changes to improve handover communication regarding on-call issues, according to the study.
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