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Pensar Enfermagem / v.28 n.sup / October 2024

DOI: 10.71861/pensarenf.v28iSup.373

Introduction

Nursing handovers are indispensable in clinical practice, permeating various contexts of

healthcare. It is vital to ensure the continuity of care by involving the transfer of accurate

information about the patient, implying responsibility for their health. However, believing

that this crucial moment in nursing practice is free from implications for nurses' mental

health is naive.

MEDLINE Ultimate, MedicLatina, and Scopus. Grey literature included: Google Scholar

and RCAAP.

Results

We identified 11 studies published between 1988 and 2022 from the UK, Australia, the

USA, South Korea, and Hong Kong, involving over 122 nurses in acute care settings. The

findings reveal three major themes: source of psychological discomfort, coping resource,

and peer support and cohesion. Negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, dissatisfaction,

and tension are linked to handovers, particularly bedside handovers, which raise

confidentiality issues and induce scrutiny among nurses. The lack of standardized training

health and underscores the need for standardized practices to improve the well-being of

nursing professionals and the quality of patient care. Future research should measure the

impact of different handover practices on nurses' mental health and explore their

supportive, social, protective, and restorative functions.

Keywords

Nursing; Mental Health; Patient Handoff; Review.

References

1. Peters MDJ, Godfrey C, McInerney P, Munn Z, Tricco AC, Khalil, H. Scoping Reviews.

https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850

3. Kim EM, Kim JH, Kim C, Cho S. Experiences of handovers between shifts among nurses

in small and medium-sized hospitals: A focus-group study. Nurs Health Sci [Internet] 2022

[cited 2024 mar 28]; 24(3):717-725. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12970