Whether you deliver or receive the handover report, mindful communication during handovers is essential and can significantly reduce the risk of errors and accidents during your shift and the ones that follow.

Administering medications is the nursing activity most associated with errors.

Clinical handovers are high-risk situations for patient safety. Errors lead to delays in diagnosis and treatment, unnecessary tests and treatments, incorrect patient treatment, increases in the length of hospital stay, patient complaints, and malpractice claims.

Although the handover report is crucial to ensuring patient safety and continuity of care, it is surprising that most training programs neglect to focus on or develop this skill.

Whenever you are delivering or receiving a handover report, mindful communication ensures the handover is effective.

Do not wait until your body is flooded with stress hormones before you practice mindfulness. By then, it is often too late! Instead, practice being mindful when things are going smoothly and during the early stages of stress.

Mindfulness and compassion practice are antidotes to compassion fatigue.

Compassion fatigue is a common phenomenon, and nurses are especially vulnerable.

Self-compassion helps you recognize and soothe painful emotions.