Transfer of care from an acute to a community hospital
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploration of the person centeredness of the handover process from acute hospital wards to community hospital wards from the perspectives of patients and registered nurses.
IRAS ID
200116
Contact name
Monica Inglis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Stirling Research and Development Manager
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 26 days
Research summary
Background
Handovers of care have been shown to be a significant risk to patient care that can result in lack of care continuity and adverse events.There are gaps in knowledge about the patients perspective -how patients are involved in the handover process and what matters to them.Additionally,the effect of demographic change with an increasing ageing population and resultant changes in the model of acute care has resulted in a decrease in the length of time spent in acute care settings with increasing numbers of patients experiencing transfers between care settings .This is an important topic given the current focus of health care policy and professional nursing practice on the importance of person centred care .
Aim
The aim of the proposed study is to explore the person centeredness of the handover process between an acute to a community hospital setting from the perspectives of patients and registered nurses.Methods
The proposed qualitative study will be conducted in one Health Board with a sample of up to twelve patients aged 65 years or over who have had their care transferred from an acute to a community hospital ward The data will be collected through semi- structured interviews with each participant,following their transfer.
Two groups of six to eight registered nurses will be recruited to explore their perspectives of person centredness in relation to handovers of care. This data will be collected via two focus groups - one with registered nurses from acute wards,the other withregistered nurses from community hospital wards .
Data will be analysed using the Framework analysis approach.REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
18/WS/0070
Date of REC Opinion
2 May 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion