Document Type

Dissertation

Title

Handoff Communication Among Senior Nursing Students: A Phenomenological Study

Authors

Juanita Hanley-Gumbs, Nova Southeastern University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing Education

Copyright Statement

All rights reserved. This publication is intended for use solely by faculty, students, and staff of Nova Southeastern University. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, now known or later developed, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author or the publisher.

Department

College of Nursing

First Advisor

Chitra Paul Victor

Publication Date / Copyright Date

2019

Publisher

Nova Southeastern University

NSUWorks Citation

Juanita Hanley-Gumbs. 2019. Handoff Communication Among Senior Nursing Students: A Phenomenological Study. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Nursing. (69)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_con_stuetd/69.

Abstract

Despite discussions in health care regarding poor communication and its link to patient safety, it was revealed in the literature that many student nurses are inadequately prepared to conduct handoff communication. Student nurses have difficulty in this area due to limited or no experience with the handoff process, which jeopardizes patient safety. The purpose of this research study was to understand how senior nursing students make meaning of their lived experiences with handoff communication. The guiding research question for this study is: How do senior nursing students make meaning of their lived experiences with handoff communication during the change-of-shift report in the clinical practicum? Lave’s situated cognition theory and Kolb’s experiential learning theory are the two theories that support the conceptual framework of this study. A qualitative phenomenological inquiry using the hermeneutical approach was used to explore and interpret the student nurses’ experience with handoff communication. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit nine senior nursing students enrolled in their final clinical practicum. Four major themes and nine subthemes were revealed in this study: (a) active participation, (b) understanding handoff communication, (c) insufficient training and practical experience, and (d) confidence with the shift report. The results of this study illuminated the experiences of nine senior nursing students’ learning and practical experience with the change-of-shift handoff report during clinical practicum.

Disciplines

Nursing

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