REVIEW ARTICLE Patients experiences of bedside handover: findings from a meta-synthesis Valentina Bressan PhD, MNS, BNS, RN (Research Fellow) 1 , Lucia Cadorin PhD, MNS, BNS, RN (Continuing Education Project Outliner) 2 , Simone Stevanin MNS, BNS, RN (Nurse) 3 and Alvisa Palese PhDc, MNS, BNS, RN (Associate Professor in Nursing Science) 1 1 School of Nursing, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy, 2 Continuing Education Centre, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, Aviano – Pordenone, Italy and 3 Agency for Health and Social Care, Veneto Region, Italy Scand J Caring Sci; 2019 Patients experiences of bedside handover: findings from a meta-synthesis Background: Bedside shift reports have been recently rec- ommended to ensure handovers. However, no evidence summarising studies designed to determine the qualita- tive approaches capable of better understanding patient experience have been published to date. Aim: The aim of this study was to acquire a deeper understanding of the experiences of patients regarding bedside shift reports. Data sources and review methods: A systematic review of qualitative studies followed by a meta-synthesis method based upon Sandelowski’s and Barroso’s guidelines was performed. Four databases were systematically explored (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and PsycINFO) without any limitation in time and up to the 31 August 2018. A total of 10 studies were included and evaluated in their methodological quality; then, a thematic synthesis was developed to synthetize the findings. Results: Three major themes reflect patients’ experience regarding the bedside shift reports: (i) ‘Being involved’; (ii) ‘Being the centre of nursing care processes’; and (iii) ‘Expe- riencing critical issues’. Patients are supportive of bedside shift reports as a right, as an opportunity to be involved, and of being in the centre of the nursing care process. By designing and implementing bedside shift reports, nurses also have an opportunity to increase patient safety and to provide concrete proof of the advancements achieved by the nursing profession in recent years. Conclusions: The bedside shift reports experience has been little studied to date from the perspective of patients. According to the findings, implementation of the bedside shift reports should include providing education to nurses with regard to the preferences and expectations of patients, as well as the critical issues that they can experience during the bedside shift reports. Presenting the bedside shift reports method, asking patient consent, discussing potential critical issues and the degree of involvement preferred at hospital admission, is strongly recommended. Keywords: bedside handover, bedside shift report, litera- ture review, meta-synthesis, nursing, patient experience, systematic qualitative review, thematic synthesis. Submitted 9 January 2019, Accepted 3 February 2019 Introduction Shift handover has been defined as the process of trans- ferring authority and responsibility of a patient between two or more healthcare professionals (1). It is considered a basic component of healthcare organisations due to its influence on the quality of care and consequent patient safety and clinical outcomes (2). Different shift handover methods have been documented to date, and above all, bedside shift reports (BSRs) have been considered as one of the best due to their capacity to increase patient safety, their centred care approach (3, 4), satisfaction for both patients and nurses, and decreased miscommunication, errors (5, 6), and costs (6, 7). The BSR occurs when the handover shift report between the off-going nurse and the incoming nurse takes place at the patient bedside (3); it requires a face- to-face interaction between two or more nurses, involv- ing the patient as an active member of the process (8). Even if currently no BSR gold standard has been defined, its key components have been identified in the following elements: (i) participants in the process and their role (e.g., nurses, other staff members, patients’ relatives); (ii) where and when the BSR occurs (e.g., in the patient’s room, in a dedicated meeting room); (iii) the nature of Correspondence to: Alvisa Palese, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Udine, Viale Ungheria, 20, 33100 Udine, Italy. E-mail: alvisa.palese@uniud.it 1 © 2019 Nordic College of Caring Science doi: 10.1111/scs.12673