Can we make postoperative patient handovers safer? A systematic review of the literature.

Postoperative patient handovers are fraught with technical and communication errors and may negatively impact patient safety. We systematically reviewed the literature on handover of care from the operating room to postanesthesia or intensive care units and summarized process and communication recommendations based on these findings. From >500 papers, we identified 31 dealing with postoperative handovers.

Development and pilot testing of computerized order entry algorithms for geriatric problems in nursing homes.

Objectives: To develop order entry algorithms for five common nursing home problems and to test their acceptance, use, and preliminary effect on nine quality indicators and resource utilization.

Design: Pre-post, quasi-experimental study.

Setting: Two Department of Veterans Affairs nursing homes.