Mistakes that occur during the handover of patients belong to the most common and fatal mistakes. Thus, they are highly relevant within the scope of patient safety. It is estimated that up to 80% of fatal and undesired incidents in hospitals are caused by mistakes during the handover or poor communication. An improvement of information transfer in the context of patient handover via technical aids like checklists or protocols is scientifically proven.

The study “Continuity of information during patient handover” is part of the main project “Gestaltungskompetenz as an Innovator for Highly Reliable Organisations in the Healthcare System” (GIO).

Aim of the study is to identify competencies, which enable employees that work in the care sector to conduct effective and safe patient handovers. Thereafter findings will be used to develop an interactive learning environment to train the workforce.

Consequently, the research question of this study is:

“Which competencies do employees in the care sector need to establish a safety culture and to ensure a continuity of information as well as patient safety in the context of patient handover and how can these competencies be trained via an online learning environment?”

The identification of problem areas in relevance to patient handover as well as the relevant competencies were conducted via a CIRS data analysis. The results indicated that the transfer of information (e.g. missing or wrong information) and the processes and standards of healthcare institutions were causing critical incidents.

In the following steps of the project, several elicitations in cooperating hospitals as well as the development and testing of learning content for the interactive learning environment will be conducted.