forth [6-7]. Since the importance of patient safety was recently emphasized in Korea,
attention has been paid to handovers as well.
Still, research is limited to the actual condition of handovers [7] and application of
recordings to handovers for improvement [9], and the necessity to develop a standardized
guideline for handovers is emphasized to enhance the efficiency of nursing tasks and
maintain patients’ safety [6].
According to Collins [10], nurses who have graduated are required to develop
capabilities to notify doctors of an emergency situation of patients, which requires
assessment on importance of matters, skills of clear reporting, managing and predicting
the order of emergency situations. These factors, however, have hardly been included in
educational intervention for communication skill improvement among nurses.
Student nurses may not fully understand what a good handover is in terms of structure
and content, when and to whom a handover needs to be provided, etc. They may feel not
fully capable of handovers for such reasons as lack of practicing opportunities, etc.
Besides, in observation of undesirable handover practices, they recognize the risk of the
insufficiency of acceptable standards and have little self-confidence and discernment in
personally practicing handover skills [10]. Even if a curriculum may provide nursing
students with opportunities of communication and report experiences, students feel
difficult to put such skills into practice clinically due to their worry about patients’ safety.
In addition, nursing students are not certain about where to learn and develop such skills,
where to practice such skills with safety secured, and how to acquire and develop skills to
transfer knowledge related to handovers in practical tasks. In reality, therefore, it is
challenging for students to develop capabilities to handle information of handovers.