 and welcome back to another vlog. Thank you as always so so much for tuning in and taking some time out to watch this vlog. So today's vlog is all about handovers. I know I completely forgot that I was gonna do this vlog a while back and then it was only because someone messaged me and said or could you do one on handovers because I think that'd be really good and I thought oh my god I was supposed to do this vlog so thank you to that person very very much for reminding me and here we are. Now for me I've never had a problem with a handover. I don't know why but I've always just done it and it's like yeah whatever it's just handover it's fine but so many people get scared. I don't know why. Comment below guys why do you fear handover so much it's really I don't know it's okay it's okay you're just discussing your patience that's it. So first things first of course we cannot do a handover without Espar. I'm not going to go into this too much because I'm sure you know all about Espar already especially if you're more second-year final year. Espar is something you get taught at the very very start so I'm not going to talk about this too much however if you want the links below I will put them below in the details and you can have a look around Espar and these different techniques that you can use to sort of structure your handover. So first tip for handover be on time. Nobody wants to be waiting around to leave their shift for you to come and do handover whether your days whether your nights whatever. People just want to get home and people just want to start their shift so it's really important I think to have an on-time handover and just relieve everybody of their duties and start the shift well. Second tip is obviously it has to be communication you can't have a handover without clear concise communication so just I know it's quite hard to fit a lot of information in a short space of time so it's really important that whatever patients you've got you want to get straight to the point put bullet points at the side of your sheet if you've got a handover sheet and you want to make notes before the handover just put make some bullet points of your patients and the really important information that they need to know they don't need to know little things like what they wore that day or some little things like that but it's more important about the care that they're going to receive and anything that you need to handover that's really important that those people need to know and if those people were on the night before or the day before and they know the patients it's even more important that you keep it narrow to what they really need to know as well but also not missing important information if that makes sense. My next tip is actually when you're on shift so make sure you're documenting as you go so if there's really important things that pop up about each patient make sure you're writing it on your sheet make sure you're putting in your notebook things like that so that you remember to hand that over during the handover if that makes sense it can be quite easy that I've gone into a shift before and first thing in the morning something's happened or something's gone on and then by the time I'm finishing at 8 o'clock at night so much has happened like I can't even remember what I did in the morning so it's really important that you document everything and that you're writing notes as you go as well about your patient so that you can give that really important handover to the next person. This tips all about more like body language in a way if that makes sense it'll make sense in a minute so when you're giving your handover don't be this person that is patient X has diarrhea not sure why no don't cover your mouth don't cover your face you want to stand or sit tall expand your lungs you want your voice to project your teeth which I know is really really hard it's easier said than done I'm that person that is an introvert so I know it can be difficult but yes just make sure like your your voice is clear like there's nothing in your face you haven't got your hand over up here just like this open expand project your voice a little bit maybe a little bit louder than you would speak if you're a quiet quiet person if you're quite a loud person maybe turn it down a little bit but yes just yeah it's all about posture as well so just make sure open you've got your hand over okay this is what we're gonna do patient in babe blah blah blah patient blah blah blah yeah go through it and it'll just come across as a lot clearer I think and lastly practice just practice I know it can be quite hard I think your very first handover especially you're gonna be a bit nervous and bit like oh god I've got handover really don't want to you've been avoiding this forever but it's really important that you just practice even if you want to practice at home get your family members involved do a zoom meeting because everything's online now zoom meeting with your student colleagues or anyone like that and just have like a practice handover where you can all practice amongst each other or if you're doing it in front of your friends and family at home no more than six because COVID restrictions you can just sort of do the handover to them and just keep practicing it and you'll get into that routine of actually feeling confident in standing in front of people and speaking as well I think that's a really important thing however if you do get anxious and nervous to the point where it's really affecting you it's do some things like meditation or breathing techniques take a slow deep breath in for four seconds hold it for two and then a slow breath out for five or six seconds I think it is I can't remember the technique now but there is another one where you follow a square so look at a picture frame or something and breathe in breathe out breathe in breathe out and that'll just really really help focus your breathing and just sort of relax you a little bit there's also naming things so you can look around the room and name things as you see them so pen table computer floor window chair picture little things like that because it helps you just readjust and realign and just focus on the there and now rather than all the anxieties and the thoughts that go on in your mind and that'll just really really help to make you feel a bit more comfortable in that sort of situation as well and if you're at the point where you really really really are struggling nothing is working you hate life you cannot physically do a handover speak your mentors speak to other nurses on the ward about how they cope and the things that they do and see if they can suggest anything else for you to help you grow and build and just be able to give just even one handover would be a massive bonus I think they could be a huge asset to you so yeah just ask so that is all I think I think I've covered everything I'm really sorry if I've missed anything out if you would like me to talk about anything else about handovers but my mind is just gone I can't think physically think of anything else I could cover it's just it is just more about you and your anxieties I think and helping you sort of structure your handover maybe a little bit better and positioning yourself and making you more confident but it is just down to practice you can't expect to be this amazing person at handover right away I think people take years of practice sometimes to do that I'm not very good at handover sometimes I sometimes forget things and then I've gone home and panic so I've rang the ward or the nurse or my placement or wherever I've been and I'd be like oh my god I completely forgot to do this will someone do it really quickly or hand over it really quickly I'm so so sorry I've been mortified because I've actually forgot that and luckily it hasn't been anything major it's just been a little thing but it made me feel awful at the time so yes I absolutely get that and that's okay but just just take your time keep practicing and you'll be absolutely fantastic