Mid Sweden University

Background - Many errors and threats to patient safety are caused by deficiencies in the organization, such as inadequate procedures, inadequate planning and lack of information or communication. A specific danger to patient safety is the various gaps in the continuity of care. An example of the gap is the transfer of patients from the high-tech intensive care environment to the less frequent personnel ward environment, a process called ICU transitional care. ICU-nurses, ward-nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals, may provide this care. The effects of a poorly coordinated discharge can lead to readmission to the ICU and avoidable deaths.This study is a part of a research project financed by The Kamprad Family Foundation, with a purpose to gain new knowledge about how efficiency and quality in patient transfers within healthcare care can be improved. The purpose will be achieved through cooperation between the two research subjects Quality Management and Nursing science.Purpose - The purpose of this paper was to gain knowledge about how to improve patient transfers from intensive care to the general ward, by describing the intensive care co-workers generated suggestions.Methodology/approach – Six interdisciplinary focus groups interviews were conducted with co-workers at two hospitals in Sweden. The interviews were taped, verbatim transcribed and analysed with a mixed method. The QM values: ‘customer focus’, ‘leadership commitment’, ‘participation of everybody’, ‘continuous improvement’, ‘process focus’ and ‘base decisions on facts’ were used as an analytic framework.Findings - The co-workers suggested that the process should be defined and structured. The analyses showed a total of 94 suggestions that mainly were focused at following areas; planning, information, and communication, interest in the transfer process, enough resources, standardize and create routines, learning, follow up and evaluate.Practical implications - ICU transitional care is multifaceted and needs a holistic, system thinking solution. The findings indicate that the process could be safer, and more efficient by implementing the co-worker generated suggestions. The suggestions can be used to improve patients’ transfers in many contexts in healthcare, not only ICU transitional care.