Patient-centered Nutrition Care: The Power of Effective Handoffs

Handoffs within the nutrition care team, composed of physicians, nurses, dietitians, and dietitian technicians, face critical challenges that often lead to communication breakdowns, delays in care, and heightened patient safety risks. To address these issues, we employed an improvement methodology grounded in relational coordination to identify and eliminate the root causes of these challenges.

Central to our approach was fostering interprofessional collaboration through relational mapping activities. These process activities involved two key steps: first, the team assessed the quality of their current communication practices and the degree of shared or collective understanding of roles and goals. Second, they used this information to refine their collaborative practices, improve communication effectiveness, and cultivate trust among team members.

To support these efforts, we equipped the team with structured communication strategies such as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation), CUS (Concerned, Uncomfortable, Safety), DESC (Describe, Express, Suggest, Consequences), etc. These tools or strategies provide practical frameworks to standardize communication, ensure clarity, and address conflict constructively.

As a result of this initiative, teams experienced improved communication, stronger interprofessional relationships, and a more cohesive understanding of roles and goals. We anticipate these changes will lead to streamlined handoffs, reduced delays, and heightened patient safety.