Patient Participation in Nursing Handover in a Coronary Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study.
Grazielle Rezende da Silva Dos Santos, Sabrina da Costa Machado Duarte, Juliana Faria Campos and 1 others
PMID 42710019WHAT IT FOUND
Patients in a coronary ICU rarely spoke up during bedside handover, viewing it as a professional meeting.
Nurses worried about causing distress or confusion. Active participation requires explicit invitations and plain language, not just physical presence at the bedside.
Key findings
01Patients viewed handover as a professional activity and did not perceive themselves as legitimate participants unless explicitly invited.
02Nurses identified technical language, privacy concerns, and the risk of causing patient distress as major barriers to involving patients.
03Bedside handover occurred routinely, but this physical proximity did not translate into meaningful patient participation without intentional communication strategies.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Data were collected in a single coronary ICU in a public teaching hospital in Brazil, limiting transferability to other settings. The perspectives of family members and other healthcare professionals were not explored. Findings are context-specific and should not be generalized as universal evidence of patient preferences.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the Research Foundation of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that bedside handover is ineffective or should be abandoned. The study shows that location alone does not ensure participation; the quality of communication and the explicit invitation for patient input are the critical missing components.