A Mnemonic to Facilitate the Handover from the Operating Room to Intensive Care Unit: "I PUT PATIENTS FIRST"

Abstract

Quality problem or issue: The clinical handover is a critical phase in patient care. Quality improvement effortsaimed towards encouraging effective communication during the handover process are crucial to improve theoutcomes of particularly vulnerable patient populations, such as those transferred post-operatively from theoperating room (OR) to the intensive care unit (ICU).Initial assessment: The lack of standardization in the operating room to intensive care unit handover yields widevariability in the quality of handover reports between providers. Furthermore, this issue is exacerbated by the lack ofa strong pedagogical tool through which resident physicians can become familiar with this process.Choice of solution: The use of a simple mnemonic to act as a guide for the operating room to intensive care unithandover.Implementation: We have developed a mnemonic guideline for use as both a cognitive aid and written referenceby the sending and receiving care teams.Evaluation: We believe that this mnemonic has value as a clinical guideline and educational tool to aid in thestandardization of the operating room to intensive care unit handover.Lessons learned: The use of a simple mnemonic guide can support clinical reasoning and standardize thehandover of patients from the operating room to intensive care unit, improving the quality of care provided to this at-risk patient population