Care Handover and Shift Notes

Who this is for

The sheet that passes one shift to the next. Who handed over to whom, the key points for each person, what is still to be done — signed by both.

Care teams changing shift, families where one relative takes over from another, live-in carers at the end of a stint, and anyone who has started a shift not knowing what happened in the last one.

What this helps you track

• Who handed over, who took over, the date and the shift
• The key points for each person, in a line or two each
• What is still to be done, and who it has been reported to
• Whether each follow-up was completed by the end of the next shift
• Both signatures, so the handover happened on paper as well as out loud

How to use it

1. Fill in the date, the shift, who is handing over and who is taking over.
2. Give each person a line: what the next shift needs to know, and anything reported and to whom.
3. List the things still to be done in the second table, with who is to do them and by when.
4. Read it through together before the outgoing carer leaves, then both sign.
5. The incoming carer ticks each follow-up as it is done, and the sheet becomes the start of the next handover.
6. File the sheets in date order, or fill them in online and save them in your own browser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Is this a care record?

It is the record of the handover, not of the care. What was done during a shift goes in the daily log or the visit record; this sheet carries the points the next shift needs and the things left to do.

Who signs?

Both: the person handing over and the person taking over. Two signatures show that the handover was read and understood on both sides, which is the whole point of writing it down.

What if there is only one person cared for?

Use one line of the first table and leave the rest, or use the spare lines for different parts of the day. The sheet works for a household as well as a team.

Does it say what a handover has to include?

No. What has to be handed over is decided by the care plan, the service and the rules where you are. The sheet gives that a shape and a pair of signatures.