Among Gynecological Surgical Patients - Will Standardized Reporting Between OR, PACU and Staff Nurses of Mother Baby and NICU units Improve the Quality of Report and Receiving Nurse Satisfaction? - Study Abstract

Sep 13, 2026

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Standardized patient handoff reporting after gynecologic surgery is critical because multiple transfers occur within a short perioperative timeframe, increasing the need for accurate, concise communication between OR, PACU, and receiving unit staff nurses. Using a developed checklist tool in prior work, perceived nurse satisfaction improved substantially. This project evaluated the effectiveness of standardized reporting before and after implementation, including pre- and post-implementation surveys and planned observation for error reduction, with results limited by low PACU survey response.

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Background

Practice Change

Methods

Measures and Results

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Conclusion

Among Gynecological Surgical Patients, Will Standardized Reporting Between OR, PACU and Staff Nurses of Mother Baby and NICU units, Compared to No Standardization, Improve the Quality of Report and Receiving Nurse Satisfaction? Carrie Marley BSN, RN, Zakiah Meeks BSN, RN, Taylor Roach BSN, RN, Ashley Rollins BSN, RN Background ▪ Standardized reporting is a key component in patient safety after surgical procedures, particularly in gynecologic setting. Specifically during the perioperative period, multiple patient handoffs occur within a small time frame, increasing the importance of accurate, informative, and concise handoff among perioperative nurses and the staff nurses on the unit receiving the patient. ▪ With use of a developed checklist tool, the researchers found that nurse satisfaction of received report in the intraoperative setting improved from 20% to 100% with use of the handoff checklist and in the PACU setting improved from 59% to 90% . ▪ Researchers have concluded that use of a standardized patient handoff reporting checklist significantly improved perceived quality and reliability of handoff report between perioperative and PACU nurses. Practice Change The goal of this project was to assess the effectiveness of standardized reporting between OR, PACU, and staff nurses before and after implementation of standardized reporting tool, observe for overall reduction of errors, and improving patient quality of care. Methods 1. Pre-implementation survey: Implementation of prestandardized hand off reporting tool survey. (See pre-survey results) 2. Implementation of standardized handoff tool: present information and standardized hand off report tool to applicable staff via mailbox and during Monday morning huddle. Implementation of this tool will occur for 1 month, with postimplementation survey sent at the closing of this tool. 3. Post-implementation survey: Post implementation of standardized hand off reporting tool survey. Measures and Results . Question 1: Are you happy with thereport you receive during handoff? Graph 1a: Evaluation survey of handoff communication between PACU and OB Graph 1b: Evaluation survey of handoff communication between OR to the PACU Question 2: Do you think standardizing handoff would improve nurse satisfaction? Graph 2a: Evaluation survey of handoff communication between PACU and OB Graph 2b: Evaluation survey of handoff communication between OR to the PACU Summary/Discussion Pre-Survey Results While conducting our pre-survey utilizing the question “Do you think standardizing handoff would improve nurse satisfaction?” we obtained the above graphs. Upon assessing the graphs it was found that over 75% of nurses that responded to the survey agreed that standardization of handoff would improve their satisfaction. Post-Survey Results We sent our survey to Intraoperative services, PACU and OB. Unfortunately, we received responses from only two of these cohorts, therefore our results are inconclusive and we were unable to implement our handoff report template due to the lack of response from PACU. Barriers to implementation: • Lack of time for PACU nurses to check email and complete a survey that is not required. • Due to individualization of departments, we were unable to address each department directly with face-to-face communication. • Lack of face-to-face communication could have decreased buy-in from employees. It is likely due to this barrier that we were unable to completely address the purpose of our project. Feedback from “other” category in survey: • “I feel our reporting is standardized, just not always effective.” • “I am mostly happy, however sometimes important info does not get passed along.” Conclusion We were unable to implement our standardized handoff report form, therefore our results are inconclusive. From our pre-survey results, it can be assumed that nurse satisfaction would increase with standardized hando

FAQs

Why is standardized handoff reporting important in gynecologic surgical care?

Because perioperative care involves multiple handoffs in a short timeframe, accurate and concise communication is essential to support patient safety and reliability of the information transferred.

What was the project goal for OR, PACU, and receiving unit staff nurses?

To assess the effectiveness of standardized reporting before and after implementation, observe overall reduction of errors, and improve patient quality of care by enhancing communication during handoffs.

Why were the post-implementation results inconclusive?

Only limited cohort responses were received, and insufficient PACU participation prevented complete evaluation and reduced the ability to implement the handoff report template.

Sep 13, 2026

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