Research Clinician-to-Clinician Communication at Handovers
摘要
This chapter investigates the intricacies of clinician-to-clinician communication during handovers in Hong Kong hospitals. Through ethnographic discourse analysis, it highlights the impact of multilingual and multicultural factors on the effectiveness of communication in medical and surgical wards. The study evaluates the implementation of standardized frameworks like the ISBAR protocol and introduces enhancements, such as a revised ISBAR (Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation) worksheet and the CARE (Connect, Ask, Readback, and Engage) protocol, to address communication challenges. By analysing handover recordings, the chapter identifies key strategies for outgoing nurses to ensure comprehensive information transfer and for incoming nurses to actively engage in clarifying patient care details. The findings underscore the importance of structured, interactive, and patient-centred handover processes to improve safety, continuity of care, and teamwork in high-pressure healthcare environments. The chapter concludes with recommendations for integrating these communication strategies into medical education and clinical practice to foster long-term improvements.