Date of Conferral

1-28-2026

Date of Award

January 2026

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Lilo Fink

Abstract

Effective communication during nurse-to-nurse handoff remains a critical determinant of patient safety in high-acuity emergency settings, where rapid decisions and fluctuating clinical demands can lead to inconsistent structure, omission of critical information, and inefficient transitions of care. The practice gap identified was a lack of standardized knowledge and consistent use of a structured bedside handoff tool among emergency department (ED) nurses. The practice-focused question guiding this project was, Does educating ED nurses on using the I-PASS bedside handoff tool improve knowledge of structured bedside reporting as measured by pre- and post-implementation surveys? The ADDIE framework and the Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice (JHEBP) model guided development and implementation of this project. Fifteen peer-reviewed scholarly articles were used to inform the educational PowerPoint, knowledge-based pre- and post surveys, and the I-PASS direct observation checklist. Twelve ED charge nurses and clinical coordinators (collectively referred to as unit coordinators for this project) participated in a single, in-person train-the-trainer session in the ED conference room and completed pre- and post-education knowledge assessments and implementation within their respective teams. Knowledge scores improved from a pre-test mean of 12.83 (85.6%) to a post-test mean of 14.42 (96.1%), representing a statistically significant increase in knowledge, t(11) = 5.06, p < .001. This project contributes to positive social change by improving communication reliability during transitions of care, enhancing patient safety, and supporting a culture of standardized, evidence-based nursing practice in the ED.

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