Title : Clinical staff’s perspectives of stroke transitional care: A qualitative study
Abstract:
Background: The transition from hospital to home is a critical period for stroke survivors and their caregivers, Understanding the attitudes and perspectives of doctors and nurses towards transitional care for stroke patients is essential for designing and improving transitional care services.
Objective: To explore the clinical staff’s attitudes and perspectives of transitional care for stroke patients from hospital to home in the neurology department.
Design: A generic qualitative study design.
Methods: The semi-structured interviews with 15 clinical staff in the neurology department of a tertiary hospital were conducted through face-to-face or telephone.
Results: Five major themes being illustrated as following, (1) doctors and nurses could recognize the importance of transitional care, as it benefits the recovery of patients after a stroke, as well as building a good relationship between clinical staff and stroke patients; (2) diverse understandings on definition of transitional care, it seemed that doctors tend to have accurate understanding, while nurses often lack understanding or even misunderstand transitional care; (3) perceived challenges in implementing transitional care, it might consist of nurses’ insufficient knowledge, lack of self-learning consciousness and time, and less opportunities for continuous learning; (4) the consistent need for education, both doctors and nurses expressed needs for training, but nurses need more fair opportunities to continue learning; (5) advanced (nursing) specialist are recommended, including specific work positions or specialized professionals.
Conclusions: The clinical staff in the neurology department could recognize the significance of transitional care for stroke patients. However, heavy workload, inadequate competence and lack of opportunities to learn more about transitional care reported by nurses might affect their participate in transitional care. Therefore, to ensure the quality of transitional care, nurses in particular, needed equal chances to be trained, but full-time specialists are highly recommended to assure the implementation and quality of transitional care.
Audience Take Away:
- Audience members can utilize the insights into medical staff's attitudes and perspectives to inform the design and improvement of transitional care services for stroke patients
- Understanding the importance and challenges of transitional care can help professionals develop better transitional care plans for stroke patients
- By providing educational needs and recommendations on transitional care, this study can guide healthcare providers to develop targeted training programs and help design more effective transitional care models to meet the needs of stroke patients and their families
