Transitional care for older people from hospital to home: a best practice implementation project

Nurses’ roles in changing practice through implementing best practices: A systematic review

Nurses play an important role in the implementation of best practices. However, the role of nurses in changing practice by implementing best practices requires further exploration. No systematic review was found that summarised the best available evidence on the roles of nurses in changing practice through the implementation of best practices. This study summarised the best available evidence on the roles of nurses in changing practice through the implementation of best practices. A systematic review was used to search for studies in the English language, where a best practice was implemented in a clinical context and which included findings regarding the roles of nurses when implementing best practices. Scopus, EBSCOhost (Academic Search Ultimate, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL with Full Text, ERIC, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, MasterFILE Premier, MEDLINE Complete), PUBMED, and ScienceDirect databases were searched from January 2013 to June 2021. The search generated 1343 citations. After removing duplicates and applying eligibility criteria, 27 studies were included. Five definite roles were identified as follows: leadership, education and training, collaboration, communication and feedback and development and tailoring of the best practice. These roles are interrelated, but equally crucial in order to implement best practices. This study found five interrelated but equally crucial nurse roles in changing practice through the implementation of best practices.

An exploration of Canadian transitional care programs for older adults

Transitional care programs are effective for improving patient outcomes upon discharge from acute care services and reducing the burden of healthcare costs; however, little is known about the types of transitional care programs for older adults across Canada. This exploratory study gathered an in-depth understanding of Canadian transitional care programs and described how each program functions to support older adults and family/friend caregivers. Nine key informants were interviewed about the development of transitional care programs within four Canadian provincial regions including Atlantic, Central, Prairie, and West Coast. Key facilitators and barriers influencing the development and long-term success of transitional care programs included program scope, program structure, continuity of care, funding, and health system infrastructure. Future research is required to identify how a broad range of transitional care programs operate and to disseminate knowledge with health leaders and decision-makers to ensure transitional care programs are embedded as essential health system services.