Interventions that support novice nurses' transition into practice: A realist review.

BACKGROUND: Many transition-to-practice programs have been developed to support novice nurses during their first years into practice. These programs report improvements in retention, wellbeing and clinical competence, but the driving mechanisms of these interventions remain largely unclear. OBJECTIVE: To identify how transition-to-practice programs for novice nurses work and in what contexts they work successfully. METHODS: A realist review was conducted. Eligibility criteria included intervention studies aimed at novice nurses in their first two years of practice that reported outcomes on organizational or individual nurse level. The underlying theory of included transition-to-practice programs was extracted, and relevant contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes were explored and synthesized into context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations. The search was limited to studies between 2000 and 2023. RESULTS: A total of 32 studies were included, evaluating 30 different transition-to-practice programs with a wide range of intervention components including stress management, clinical education, professional and peer support, and ward rotations. Transition-to-practice programs were often designed without a theoretical foundation. Driving mechanisms behind the programs pertained to psychological, professional, and social development. Contextual factors that activated the mechanisms were enabling conditions for mentors and novice nurses, selection and motivation of novice nurses and organizational culture. CONCLUSIONS: Current transition-to-practice programs primarily focus on the individual and professional development of nurses. However, transition to practice can benefit from a systemic approach that includes development initiatives on the organizational level. REGISTRATION: PROSPERO ID CRD42021268080, August 15, 2021. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Context and mechanisms determine successful implementation of transition to practice programs for novice nurses. @transitiontopractice @nurseworkforce.

Late dropout from nursing education: An interview study of nursing students' experiences and reasons.

The global shortages of nurses require a closer look at why nursing students stop in the later years of their degree programme. The purpose of this study is to explore nursing students' experiences and reasons that lead to this late dropout. Semi-structured interviews were held in 2017 with eleven former nursing students who dropped out in the third year of their Bachelor's Nursing degree programme in the Netherlands. Data was collected and analysed iteratively, following the principles of Thematic Analysis. Two core themes were identified: 'ending up in a downward spiral of physical, psychological and social problems' and 'experiencing an increasing mismatch between expectations and reality'. Reasons for late dropout from nursing education are diverse and interlinked. In contrast with studies on early dropout, academic difficulties did not play a major role in late dropout. Negative experiences during clinical placements led to dropout in both groups. One group lacked a safe learning environment in clinical placements, study coaching and psychological support. The other group missed realistic information provision about nursing education and the broad range of career opportunities in nursing.

A systematic review of palliative care tools and interventions for people with severe mental illness.

BACKGROUND: Increasing attention to palliative care for the general population has led to the development of various evidence-based or consensus-based tools and interventions. However, specific tools and interventions are needed for people with severe mental illness (SMI) who have a life-threatening illness. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the scientific evidence on tools and interventions in palliative care for this group. METHODS: Systematic searches were done in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Embase databases, supplemented by reference tracking, searches on the internet with free text terms, and consultations with experts to identify relevant literature. Empirical studies with qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods designs concerning tools and interventions for use in palliative care for people with SMI were included. Methodological quality was assessed using a critical appraisal instrument for heterogeneous study designs. Stepwise study selection and the assessment of methodological quality were done independently by two review authors. RESULTS: Four studies were included, reporting on a total of two tools and one multi-component intervention. One study concerned a tool to identify the palliative phase in patients with SMI. This tool appeared to be usable only in people with SMI with a cancer diagnosis. Furthermore, two related studies focused on a tool to involve people with SMI in discussions about medical decisions at the end of life. This tool was assessed as feasible and usable in the target group. One other study concerned the Dutch national Care Standard for palliative care, including a multi-component intervention. The Palliative Care Standard also appeared to be feasible and usable in a mental healthcare setting, but required further tailoring to suit this specific setting. None of the included studies investigated the effects of the tools and interventions on quality of life or quality of care. CONCLUSIONS: Studies of palliative care tools and interventions for people with SMI are scarce. The existent tools and intervention need further development and should be tailored to the care needs and settings of these people. Further research is needed on the feasibility, usability and effects of tools and interventions for palliative care for people with SMI.

Not feeling ready to go home: a qualitative analysis of chronically ill patients' perceptions on care transitions.

QUALITY PROBLEM: Unplanned hospital readmissions frequently occur and have profound implications for patients. This study explores chronically ill patients' experiences and perceptions of being discharged to home and then acutely readmitted to the hospital to identify the potential impact on future care transition interventions. INITIAL ASSESSMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION: Twenty-three semistructured interviews were conducted with chronically ill patients who had an unplanned 30-day hospital readmission at a university teaching hospital in the Netherlands. CHOICE OF SOLUTION: A constructive grounded theory approach was used for data analysis. EVALUATION: The core category identified was 'readiness for hospital discharge,' and the categories related to the core category are 'experiencing acute care settings' and 'outlook on the recovery period after hospital discharge.' Patients' readiness for hospital discharge was influenced by the organization of hospital care, patients' involvement in decision-making and preparation for discharge. The experienced difficulties during care transitions might have influenced patients' ability to cope with challenges of recovery and dependency on others. LESSONS LEARNED: The results demonstrated the importance of assessing patients' readiness for hospital discharge. Health care professionals are recommended to recognize patients and guide them through transitions of care. In addition, employing specifically designated strategies that encourage patient-centered communication and shared decision-making can be vital in improving care transitions and reduce hospital readmissions. We suggest that health care professionals pay attention to the role and capacity of informal caregivers during care transitions and the recovery period after hospital discharge to prevent possible postdischarge problems.

An exploratory study of healthcare professionals' perceptions of interprofessional communication and collaboration.

Interprofessional communication and collaboration during hospitalisation is critically important to provide safe and effective care. Clinical rounds are an essential interprofessional process in which the clinical problems of patients are discussed on a daily basis. The objective of this exploratory study was to identify healthcare professionals' perspectives on the "ideal" interprofessional round for patients in a university teaching hospital. Three focus groups with medical residents, registered nurses, medical specialists, and quality improvement officers were held. We used a descriptive method of content analysis. The findings indicate that it is important for professionals to consider how team members and patients are involved in the decision-making process during the clinical round and how current social and spatial structures can affect communication and collaboration between the healthcare team and the patient. Specific aspects of communication and collaboration are identified for improving effective interprofessional communication and collaboration during rounds.

Implementation of a Transfer Intervention Procedure (TIP) to improve handovers from hospital to home: interrupted time series analysis.

BACKGROUND: Accurate and timely patient handovers from hospital to other health care settings are essential in order to provide high quality of care and to ensure patient safety. We aim to investigate the effect of a comprehensive discharge bundle, the Transfer Intervention Procedure (TIP), on the time between discharge and the time when the medical, medication and nursing handovers are sent to the next health care provider. Our goal is to reduce this time to 24 h after hospital discharge. Secondary outcomes are length of hospital stay and unplanned readmission within 30 days rates. METHODS: The current study is set to implement the TIP, a structured discharge process for all patients admitted to the hospital, with the purpose to provide a safe, reliable and accurate discharge process. Eight hospitals in the Netherlands will implement the TIP on one internal medicine and one surgical ward. An interrupted time series (ITS) analysis, with pre-defined pre and post intervention periods, will be conducted. Patients over the age of 18 admitted for more than 48 h to the participating wards are eligible for inclusion. At least 1000 patients will be included in both the pre-implementation and post-implementation group. The primary outcome is the number of medical, medication and nursing handovers being sent within 24 h after discharge. Secondary outcomes are length of hospital stay and unplanned readmission within 30 days. With regard to potential confounders, data will be collected on patient's characteristics and information regarding the hospitalization. We will use segmented regression methods for analyzing the data, which allows assessing how much TIP changed the outcomes of interest immediately and over time. DISCUSSION: This study protocol describes the implementation of TIP, which provides the foundation for a safe, reliable and accurate discharge process. If effective, nationwide implementation of the discharge bundle may result from this study protocol. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Dutch Trial Registry: NTR5951.

Improving handoff communication from hospital to home: the development, implementation and evaluation of a personalized patient discharge letter.

OBJECTIVE: To develop, implement and evaluate a personalized patient discharge letter (PPDL) to improve the quality of handoff communication from hospital to home. DESIGN: From the end of 2006-09 we conducted a quality improvement project; consisting of a before-after evaluation design, and a process evaluation. SETTING: Four general internal medicine wards, in a 1024-bed teaching hospital in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: All consecutive patients of 18 years and older, admitted for at least 48 h. INTERVENTIONS: A PPDL, a plain language handoff communication tool provided to the patient at hospital discharge. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Verbal and written information provision at discharge, feasibility of integrating the PPDL into daily practice, pass rates of PPDLs provided at discharge. RESULTS: A total of 141 patients participated in the before-after evaluation study. The results from the first phase of quality improvement showed that providing patient with a PPDL increased the number of patients receiving verbal and written information at discharge. Patient satisfaction with the PPDL was 7.3. The level of implementation was low (30%). In the second phase, the level of implementation improved because of incorporating the PPDL into the electronic patient record (EPR) and professional education. An average of 57% of the discharged patients received the PPDL upon discharge. The number of discharge conversations also increased. CONCLUSION: Patients and professionals rated the PPDL positively. Key success factors for implementation were: education of interns, residents and staff, standardization of the content of the PPDL, integrating the PPDL into the electronic medical record and hospital-wide policy.

Transitional care interventions prevent hospital readmissions for adults with chronic illnesses.

Transitional care interventions aim to improve care transitions from hospital to home and to reduce hospital readmissions for chronically ill patients. The objective of our study was to examine if these interventions were associated with a reduction of readmission rates in the short (30 days or less), intermediate (31-180 days), and long terms (181-365 days). We systematically reviewed twenty-six randomized controlled trials conducted in a variety of countries whose results were published in the period January 1, 1980-May 29, 2013. Our analysis showed that transitional care was effective in reducing all-cause intermediate-term and long-term readmissions. Only high-intensity interventions seemed to be effective in reducing short-term readmissions. Our findings suggest that to reduce short-term readmissions, transitional care should consist of high-intensity interventions that include care coordination by a nurse, communication between the primary care provider and the hospital, and a home visit within three days after discharge.