Correlation between the quality of nursing handover, job satisfaction, and group cohesion among psychiatric nurses

BACKGROUND: Nursing handovers are a critical component of patient safety. Researchers have performed many primary studies in this field, mainly reporting findings from changes in nursing handover patterns. However, few quantitative studies have explored the factors that influence handover quality. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the quality of handovers and explore the associations between handover quality, job satisfaction, and group cohesion among psychiatric nurses. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 186 registered psychiatric nurses from a Chinese hospital, who responded to the Handover Evaluation Scale, McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale, and Group Cohesion Scale. Bootstrap analyses were used to evaluate the mediating effect between variables. RESULTS: The average item score for handover quality was (5.85 ± 1.14), and job satisfaction and group cohesion could predict the variance of handover quality. Job satisfaction could partially mediate between group cohesion and handover quality, and the value of the mediating effect was 45.77%. CONCLUSION: The quality of psychiatric nursing handovers has enhanced space. Thus, hospital managers should take various measures to strengthen group cohesion and promote job satisfaction, both of which help improve the quality of psychiatric nursing handovers.