Do Falls and Other Safety Issues Occur More Often During Handovers When Nurses Are Away From Patients? Findings From a Retrospective Study Design

BACKGROUND: No studies have assessed the differences in the incidences of falls and other patient safety events (PSEs) during handovers performed away from patients compared with when nurses are on the unit.PURPOSE: The primary aim was to explore the incidence of falls and their severity during handovers compared with during nonhandover times; the secondary aim was to explore the occurrence of other PSEs during handover versus nonhandover times.METHODS: This was a retrospective study of all PSEs that occurred from 2013 to 2017 in a large Italian academic trust.RESULTS: There were 1966 falls and 1523 other PSEs. The incidence of falls per 100 hours was 4.9 during handovers and 4.4 during nonhandover times. The incidences of other PSEs were 2.9 and 3.5, respectively. No significant differences in fall outcome severity emerged.CONCLUSIONS: No differences emerged in the occurrence of falls during handovers performed away from patients and when nurses were on the unit. Other PSEs decreased in occurrence during handovers as compared with other times during the shifts.