Patient care errors occur in health care due to lack of effective communication. It is estimated that 80 percent of serious adverse events involve ineffective handoff between medical providers (Joint Commission Center, 2013, para. 1). “The majority of avoidable adverse events are due to the lack of effective communication” (Solet, Norvell, Rutan, & Frankel, 2005, p. 1094). Varying styles of communication and interruptions are barriers to the effective handoff and can be a detriment to successful implementation of an effective communication strategy. The inquiry for this investigation is attempting to reveal that implementation of a systematic tool for communication as well as performing the handoff at the bedside are considered best practices in decreasing adverse patient events. It is necessary to perform an investigative research using quantitative and qualitative studies to help describe a problem that is an important clinical issue in health care. Defining the elements to a process change through a systematic research study will help to find solutions for best practice. Implementing successful communication strategies will help to reach out to the patient community who seeks out best care practices and who know more from technological advances. The problem faced by health care personnel is the lack of a standardized tool for communication. When nurses attempt to give report to another nurse without a systematic way of providing the information, elements in patient care information are omitted leaving room for errors. Handoffs that do not occur at the patient’s bedside are faced with inefficiencies due to noisy environments, and communication exchange in this type of setting includes interruptions. Report will occur that may not necessarily paint a complete
