Teaching patient handoffs in the ambulatory setting: a comparison of three instructional methods

Abstract

This quantitative study explored methods of teaching patient handoff and communication skills to health professions students. The researcher sought to answer the following research questions: 1) Does the instructional mode used to deliver patient handoff training influence the participant’s behaviors and performance during simulated patient handoffs? 2) Is there a difference between instructional mode groups in the participants' perceptions of their assigned teaching method during the research study? A randomized experimental design with matching was used to examine whether the instructional mode used to deliver patient handoff training influenced the participant’s behaviors and performance during simulated patient handoffs. Twenty-eight physician assistant (PA) students were distributed to the three instructional groups in the study: didactic lectures (Group A), simulation of patient handoffs to paramedics (Group B), or no intervention (Group C). All PA students participated in the posttest patient handoff simulation. The results of the first question showed that simulation was more effective in teaching patient handoff skills to physician assistant students when compared to didactic lectures (p = .018) and the traditional PA curriculum (p = .000). For the second question, there were no significant differences in the instructional groups' perceptions of their assigned teaching method. These findings may help guide other physician assistant programs considering introducing patient handoff education in the didactic phase of the curriculum.