Exploring Practices During Nursing Handovers in Critical Care: An Anthropological Study

Resumo

Background Nursing handovers in intensive care units (ICUs) are critical for ensuring continuity of care, patient safety and clinical decision‐making. Beyond information transfer, handovers are key moments in which nursing expertise can influence treatment trajectories. However, power relations, communication practices and the visibility of nursing knowledge during handovers remain underexplored, particularly through the lens of critical medical anthropology and the concept of heterotopia . Aim To explore how experienced ICU nurses participate in and influence clinical decision‐making through handover practices. Study Design This ethnographic study, grounded in a critical medical anthropology approach, was conducted in a general ICU in Greece. Data collection involved overt participant observation and ad hoc ethnographic interviews with ICU nurses and physicians, as part of a larger PhD study. Nurses who participated in interviews subsequently consented to observation while working. Fieldwork spanned 2 years (2012–2014) and concluded in 2020. Multiple nursing handovers were observed, and thematic analysis was applied to fieldnotes using Atlas.ti. Findings Nursing handovers functioned as heterotopias of nursing expertise , offering moments of access to clinical decision‐making. Four sub‐themes emerged: (a) narrating the patient's illness trajectory; (b) showcasing expertise and mentoring less experienced colleagues; (c) verbalising and consolidating clinical decisions; and (d)

Tipo

Artigo

Área

Enfermagem

Ano

2026

Idioma

Inglês

Licença

CC BY

DOI

10.1111/nicc.70389

Como citar (ABNT)

PARISSOPOULOS, Stelios et al.. Exploring Practices During Nursing Handovers in Critical Care: An Anthropological Study. Nursing in Critical Care, v. 31, n. 2, 2026. DOI: 10.1111/nicc.70389.