A Conceptual Framework for Studying the Safety of Transitions in Emergency Care
Abstract
In health care organizations, the division of labor and a need for continuous, 24-hour treatment subjects patients to multiple transitions in care. These transitions, of "handovers" are potential points of failure that have seen very little study. We observed transitions of care in five hospital emergency departments as part of a larger study on safety in emergency care and found that in addition to many other differences in work patterns among the various hospitals, very different sorts of handovers occurred in different contexts, and these differences appeared to reflect a common structure. Using these observations, we have proposed a conceptual framework for characterizing handover events. The ability to characterize certain types of transitions may help to clarify future studies, while assisting in the development of interventions to better fit the context of clinical work.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA434175
Entities
People
- Christopher Beach
- Eric Eisenberg
- Karen Cosby
- Lexa Murphy
- Marc Shapiro
- Mary Vanderhoef
- Pat Croskerry
- Ravi Behara
- Robert L. Wears
- Shawna J. Perry
Organizations
- United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality