Perceptions and Experiences of Hospital Nurses During Transition to an Electronic Handover Informatics System.

An effective patient transfer, or handover, among healthcare professionals can help prevent communication-related medical errors, and a reliable electronic handover informatics system can standardize the handoff process. Adapting to a new handover system may cause stress for nurses. This descriptive qualitative study aimed to explore the perceptions and transition experiences of hospital nurses in adopting and adapting to a new handover informatics system. Thirty-eight nurses at a medical center in Taiwan participated in the study from December 2016 to January 2017. The researcher conducted five focus group interviews and analyzed all responses using content analysis. Results showed three major themes: "Perceptions of challenges and barriers related to the transition to a new handover informatics system," "Perceptions of benefits and strategies to the transition to a new handover informatics system," and "Suggestions for successful implementation of a new handover informatics system." Five subthemes emerged from the first theme, and six subthemes emerged from the second theme. The results of this study could enhance our understanding of nurses' perceptions and experiences with transition to a new handover informatics system and could provide a reference for hospitals to develop individualized strategies to facilitate the implementation of a handover informatics system.