Comparative study of the knowledge and practice of doctors and nurses in the handover of patients in a tertiary hospital

Handover otherwise known as handoff is essential to avoid disjointed patients care. A wide gap in the knowledge and practice of clinical handover between doctors and nurses may cost the patient and the hospital. This study aims to x-rays and compares the knowledge and practice of clinical handover between doctors and nurses as well as their attributes and barriers to effective patient handover. This study was a cross-sectional study carried out at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. A sample size of 400, made up of 200 doctors and nurses was obtained. Cluster sampling was used to recruit the study respondents. The relationship between categorical variables was uncovered using the Chi-squared test. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Two hundred and twenty-five healthcare providers (56.2%) received some form of patient handover training. A small percentage of doctors (26%) have received formal handover training, whereas a large percentage of nurses (86.5%) have. About 11.5% of doctors believed that handover should be done with a well-written handover note, whereas 36.5% of nurses agreed, indicating a significant difference in this attribute (X2 = 34.27; p - 0.001). In terms of practice, 57.5% of doctors would routinely read and update handover information, whereas 87.0% of nurses would read and update handover notes during their shift. Doctors have too little formal training in clinical handover. Doctors and nurses seem to defer in their knowledge and practice of patient handover. Generally, handover documentation alongside verbal communication is preferred among nurses. A good number of doctors may be relying more on their memory for patients’ handover.