Background

Communication within institutional care is of great importance. The nurse who provides the oral report shall ensure that it is about the patient´s problem(s) and situation. The nurse´s responsibility is to see to that the correct information is given to the person concerned and also to make sure that this message has been received by the nurse who is to continue the attendance.

Aim

The purpose of this study was to highlight the oral hand over report which occurs at changes of staff within institutional care. - What is the content of the report? - How is the report carried through? Method Literary survey containing 13 scientific articles. The chosen articles were analysed and reviewed. Thereafter, we broke down the articles into smaller pieces in order to facilitate our understanding of them and sort out the most important parts. We processed the articles based on our two questions posted under the aim: what is being said and in what way?

Results

The purpose of this report was to transfer information from one shift in personnel to the next in order to ensure an efficient and safe care of patients. Handover reports were often given orally and one negative element was the lack of time provided to finish the reports. This resulted in too many shortenings and special/certain socialised knowledge was needed to be able to understand these. Conclusion The purpose of this report is to transfer information from one shift in personnel to the next in order to ensure an efficient and safe care of patients. The report was the only opportunity to talk or discuss problems with the other colleagues. The hand over could provide for a forum where experiences, thoughts and emotions might be discussed. The nurses receive information which helps them in their preparation for future caring of patients