Evaluation of handoff training in pre-licensure nursing students using virtual simulation

Nurse to nurse shift change handoffs are defined as the transfer of information and responsibility in care and are the most frequent type of information transfer in a healthcare setting, averaging 2 million per year in a mid-size hospital. Failures during handoffs contribute to nearly 35% of all sentinel events and medical errors each year. Few studies have rigorously evaluated outcomes of nursing handoff training and education methods; however, simulation has often been included as a method for handoff training in nursing and medical students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if virtual simulation, as part of a handoff curriculum, can improve handoff quality, accuracy and efficiency, among a sample of pre-licensure nursing students. Students received handoff training using lecture and case studies. Next, they completed three virtual Laerdal simulation cases and then audio recorded a handoff of each case. Two independent reviewers scored the handoffs and inter-rater reliability was calculated. Preliminary results indicate that the sending (M = 7.07; SD = 1.49) and receiving handoff nurse (M = 7.46; SD = 1.38) perceive the quality of that report to be equivalent (p = .140). A majority of students include the patient summary when reporting off (98%) however less include the action plan (69%) and a synthesis (54%), even with prompts. On average handoffs took the student nurse, 5 minutes and this did not significantly change over time. Deliberate handoff training and practice using virtual simulation is needed to prepare nursing students for real world practice.