Nurse Shift-Change Handoff Cheat Sheet

Shift-Change Handoff: The "One-Line" Rule

Write one line per patient containing only these fields:

• Patient name & room number
• Code status
• Allergies (or “NKDA”)
• One pending result or key vital sign
• One immediate action or concern

Skip the paragraph-style notes. The oncoming nurse reads one line, knows the status, and starts care immediately. No guesswork, no missing details.