Degree Name
Nursing Practice, DNP
Publication Date
4-25-2026
First Advisor
Sandy King
Abstract
Communication breakdown during nursing shift handoffs is a major patient safety challenge in healthcare today. At the project site, 85% of handovers occurred at the central nursing station, and most staff nurses expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the bedside reporting. In psychiatric nursing, unique barriers exist that make bedside reporting challenging, including patient confidentiality and an individual's diagnosis. Such barriers eroded bedside reporting (BSR) over time, leading to measurable safety risks and nursing dissatisfaction. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to reintroduce bedside handoffs using the Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation (SBAR) framework and to maintain BSR compliance above 90% among registered nurses in an inpatient psychiatric unit by week 24. The theoretical models used for this project include Lewin's Change Model, the PDSA cycle, and a quantitative pre-post quality-improvement design to assess the effects of reintroducing bedside reporting. The intervention included staff training, competency checks using the Mini-CEX tool, and the reintroduction of BSR. Project data were collected through an anonymous survey and audits. Nurse satisfaction improved by 30.6%, communication effectiveness increased by 36.7%, and the BSR compliance rate remained above 92% post intervention. Patient safety improved, with medication errors decreasing by 38%, falls by 32%, and handoff-related incidents by 44%. Limitations included a small sample size and a short implementation period. These findings support BSR as an effective, evidence-based practice to improve nurse satisfaction, communication effectiveness, and patient safety in psychiatric nursing practice.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Banga, Veronicah, "Quality Improvement Project: Reimplementation of Bedside Reporting" (2026). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 334.
https://arch.astate.edu/dnp-projects/334
