How might a hospital find the 12-hour format beneficial regarding continuity of care compared to an 8-hour coverage base?
Answer
The 12-hour format allows for better continuity of care as the patient is handed off to a new primary nurse less frequently during a 24-hour period.
From the facility's perspective, adopting a 12-hour staffing model over an 8-hour model enhances the consistency of care provided to patients. Since the shift duration is longer, a single primary nurse remains responsible for a patient over a longer span within the 24-hour cycle. This inherently reduces the frequency of patient handoffs, which lessens the opportunity for critical information gaps that can occur when care is divided among different nurses across multiple shorter shifts.

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