The benefits of consumer involvement in nursing handover on acute inpatient unit: Post-implementation views

The involvement of consumers in handover with nurses has been identified as reducing miscommunication between transitions in care and associated with reduction in adverse events in generalist nursing settings. The notion of having consumers present in nursing handover on acute mental inpatient unit remains a relatively new concept. Central to recovery focused mental health care is the consumer’s active participation in the delivery of their care. The aim of this study was to explore the views of consumers with a mental illness about their experiences of being involved in nursing handover on acute mental health inpatient unit post implementation of a new nursing handover involving consumers. Using an exploratory descriptive qualitative design, participants (N=10) were recruited using purposive convenience sampling. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken and the data were thematically analysed.
Participants’ principal diagnoses were schizophrenia (n=2), schizoaffective disorder (n=3), bipolar affective disorder (n=2), borderline personality disorder (n=1) and depression (n=2). Three themes were generated from the interviews: i) Knowing who, ii) Shared decision making, with sub-themes: my voice was heard and not just a meet and greet and iii) Having time and space.
The delivery of mental health care needs to put the consumer at the centre of such care regardless of the setting. In line with recovery-focused principles, the consumer’s active involvement in the crucial activity of nursing handover on acute inpatient unit is very important. The study has implications for ensuring consumer voices are heard in all aspects of their care delivery.