Impact of Nursing–Midwifery Communication and Handover Quality on Maternal Safety Outcomes in Maternity Units
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.4688Keywords:
Nursing-Midwifery Communication, Clinical Handover, Patient Handoff, Maternal Safety, Obstetric Safety, Maternity Unit, Patient OutcomesAbstract
The quality of communication and handover processes between nursing and midwifery staff is a fundamental determinant of maternal safety outcomes in maternity units. Effective, structured communication acts as a critical layer of defense within the healthcare system, preventing errors by ensuring accurate information transfer, shared situational awareness, and aligned care plans during the dynamic and high-risk perinatal period. Conversely, failures in this dialogue—such as incomplete handovers, ambiguous messaging, or a culture that stifes psychological safety—create direct pathways to adverse events, including delayed responses to hemorrhage, sepsis, and hypertensive crises. Optimizing this interaction through standardized tools like SBAR, interdisciplinary training, and fostering a culture of open communication is therefore not merely an administrative concern but a vital clinical intervention essential for reducing preventable maternal morbidity and mortality.
References
[1] WHO. Pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and newborn care: A guide for essential practice (3rd edition): World Health Organisation, 2015.
[2] Paxton A, Maine D, Freedman L, et al. The evidence for emergency obstetric care. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2005;88(2):181–193.
[3] Goff SL, Knee A, Morello M, et al. Handoff quality for obstetrical inpatients varies depending on time of day and provider type. J Reprod Med. 2014;59(3–4):95.
[4] Lyndon A, Zlatnik MG, Watcher RM. Effective physician-nurse communication: a patient safety essential for labor and delivery. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2011;205(2):91–96.
[5] Fealy G, Munroe D, Riordan F, et al. Clinical handover practices in maternity services in Ireland: A qualitative descriptive study. Midwifery. 2016;39:20–26.
[6] Australian Comission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Clinical Handover and Patient Safety—Literature Review Report. 2005: 10–28.
[7] Cham M, Sundby J, Vangen S. Maternal mortality in the rural Gambia, a qualitative study on access to emergency obstetric care. Reprod Health. 2005;2(1):3.
[8] Lawn JE, Cousens S, Zupan J. 4 million neonatal deaths: when? Where? Why? The Lancet. 2005;365(9462):891–900.
[9] American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Communication Strategies for Patient Handoffs (Committee Opinion Number 517). 2012.
[10] Thaddeus S, Maine D. Too far to walk: maternal mortality in context. Soc Sci Med. 1994;38(8):1091–1110.
[11] Stoyanov S, Boshuizen H, Groene O, et al. Mapping and assessing clinical handover training interventions. BMJ Qual and Saf. 2012;21:50–57.
[12] WHO. High 5s project - Action on patient safety. World Health Organisation; 2013.
[13] Groene RO, Orrego C, Sunol R, et al. “It's like two worlds apart”: an analysis of vulnerable patient handover practices at discharge from hospital. BMJ Qual Saf. 2012;21(1):i67–i75.
[14] Johnson JK, Barach P. Patient care handovers: what will it take to ensure quality and safety during times of transition. Med J Aust. 2009;190(11):S110–S112.
[15] Riesenberg LA, Leisch J, Cunningham JM. Nursing handoffs: a systematic review of the literature. Am J Nurs. 2010;110(4):24–34.
[16] Thomas V, Dixon A. Improving safety in maternity services. A toolkit for teams. 2012: The King’s Fund.
[17] Cham M, Sundby J, Vangen S. Availability and quality of emergency obstetric care in Gambia's main referral hospital: women-users' testimonies. Reprod Health. 2009;6(1):5.
[18] Kicken W, Van der Klink M, Barach P, et al. Handover training: does one size fit all? The merits of mass customisation. BMJ Qual Saf. 2012;21(1):i84–i88.
[19] WHO. A Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health: World Health Organisation, 2017.
[20] Carter N, Bryant-Lukosius D, DiCenso, A et al. The use of triangulation in qualitative research. Oncology nursing forum. 2014;41(5):545–7.
[21] The World Bank. Fertility rate, total (births per woman). 2015.
[22] WHO. Sexual and reproductive health. Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities. 2016.
[23] Smeulers M, Lucas C, Vermeulen H. Effectiveness of different nursing handover styles for ensuring continuity of information in hospitalised patients. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2014(6).
[24] The Institute for Healthcare Improvement and NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (SBAR). London: IHI and NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. 2006.
[25] Li XF, Fortney JA, Kotelchuck M, et al. The postpartum period: the key to maternal mortality. Int J of Gyne & Obs. 1996;54(1):1–10.
[26] UN General Assembly. Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2015.
[27] British Medical Association, NHS Modernising Agency, NHS National Patient Safety Agency. Safe Handover, Safe Patients: Guidance on Clinical Handover for Clinicians and Managers. London: British Medical Association, 2004.
[28] The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBOS). The Gambia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2010, Final Report. Banjul, The Gambia. 2011.
[29] Currie J. Improving the efficiency of patient handover. Emergency Nurse. 2002;10(3):24-27.
[30] International Finance Corporation. Tackling Childcare: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare. 2017.
[31] Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Root causes of sentinel events.
[32] Wilson RM, Michel P, Olsen S, et al. Patient safety in developing countries: retrospective estimation of scale and nature of harm to patients in hospital. BMJ. 2012;344:e832.
[33] Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol. 2006;3(2):77–101.
[34] O’Cathain A, Murphy E, Nicholl J. Three techniques for integrating data in mixed methods studies. BMJ. 2010;341:c4587.
[35] Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Improving Patient Handover (Good Practice No.12). 2010.
[36] Galadanci H. Protecting patient safety in resource-poor settings. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2013;27(4):497–508.
[37] MBRRACE-UK. Saving babies lives, improving mothers’ care. Maternal, neonatal and infant clinical outcome review programme. 2016.
[38] NICE Guidelines. Intrapartum care for healthy women and babies. 2017.
[39] Farhan M, Brown R, Woloshynowych M, et al. The ABC of handover: a qualitative study to develop a new tool for handover in the emergency department. Emerg Med J. 2012;29(12):941–946.
[40] Leonard M, Graham S, Taggart B. The human factor: effective teamwork and communication in patient strategy. Acheiving Safe and Reliable Healthcare. 2004;1:37–64.
[41] Humphries C, Jaganathan S, Panniyammakal J, et al. Investigating clinical handover and healthcare communication for outpatients with chronic disease in India: A mixed-methods study. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(12):e0207511.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
