Improving the Culture of Safety: A Prospective Handoff Initiative from the Operating Room to the Trauma Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

A recent EAST publication emphasized the importance of handoffs to ensure safe and effective care for trauma patients. In this work, we evaluated our existing handoffs from the operating room (OR) to the trauma intensive care unit (TICU) and implemented a formal process at our level 1 trauma center. Pre and post-intervention surveys were offered to the stakeholders. Responses were recorded in a Likert scaled format and results were compared using Student’s t-test with statistical significance was set to .05. 57 surveys were completed (30 pre, 27 post) and 139 handoffs occurred. There was significant improvement in “overall satisfaction” and “understanding of information expected.” Standardizing an OR to intensive care unit handoff clarifies expectations and improves care team satisfaction. While future studies are needed to evaluate the impact of structured handoffs on patient outcomes, provider satisfaction likely serves as an indicator for culture shift towards safer transitions of care for injured patients.