What is a Care Transition? According to the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (2024), it is the “care involved when a patient/client leaves one care setting (i.e. hospital, nursing home, assisted living facility, SNF, primary care physician, home health, or specialist) and moves to another.” It is a way for the healthcare team to ensure coordination and continuity of patient care. Give an example from your own experience, as a nurse, of a transition procedure that assisted you in the safe transfer of care for your patients.
From where to where did this transfer occur? How does/did it help you and other staff members? How did it benefit the patient?
What are some barriers and challenges to the transition of care from one level to another? Describe at least two. (Include in-text citations.) Examples: transition from the ICU to a step-down unit, from the hospital to primary care follow-up, or a long-term care discharge to home care. How can these barriers be addressed?
Give an example from the literature of a procedure aimed at improving the process of care transitions. (Include in-text citations.) What impact do you suppose it will have, or had, on patient safety? Be specific and give examples, using at least four scholarly outside references, to buttress your argument. Cite all sources in APA format.