The I-PASS Nursing Handoff Bundle intervention includes educational training, verbal handoff I-PASS mnemonic implementation and visual materials to provide reinforcement and sustainability. The researchers studied the impact of the bundle in a pediatric intensive care unit from 2011 to 2012.
The study shows that I-PASS implementation was associated with improvements in verbal handoff communications, including:
• Inclusion of illness severity assessment
• Patient summary
• To-do list
• An opportunity for the receiving nurse to ask questions
Overall, 62 percent of verbal handoff data elements were more likely to be present following I-PASS implementation and no data elements were less likely present.
Additionally, I-PASS implementation was associated with a decrease in interruption frequency, without a change in the median handoff duration or changes in time spent in direct or indirect patient care activities.
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