2. What is handover?

A nursing handover involves the transfer of professional responsibility and accountability for some or all aspects of care for a patient, or group of patients, to another nurse, for example, at the end of a nursing shift

Ideally a professional can take over responsibility for a patient only if they receive all relevant information to continue the treatment or care effectively and safely. In daily practice, handovers are done in various ways. Some handovers are done through nurses talking to each other at the nurse's station, others are done at the patient’s bedside, so that the patient can contribute and feel involved in their care, if appropriate.

Handover can also be delivered by one nurse to one other nurse or a group of nurses at the end of a shift. For the purpose of this learning resource, we will focus on the individual handover scenario that takes place around a patient’s bedside.