Introduction
One of the areas of nursing care is transitional nursing, which often remains on the sidelines and does not receive proper attention from both the management and health professionals themselves. Nevertheless, this type of care has quite a few features and requires compliance with a number of conventions on the part of nurses. The importance of the problem for the sphere of nursing is very significant, and some research questions should be formulated for further studies. As additional sources, peer-reviewed articles by respected authors are used. The features of this type of medical service are no less essential than any other sphere of nursing care.
Identification of the Problem
Transportation of patients to the operating room or other hospital departments is an important stage in the treatment process. Any movement of seriously ill people should be made as carefully as possible, avoiding sudden tremors, taking into account that these people have anatomical damages to the body caused by diseases or surgeries. In case a person needs to be transported, it means that he or she needs special care by default. The problem is that in some medical institutions, this issue may not be fully covered, and some nurses may not have sufficient qualifications for the transportation of patients.
During transportation, the patient’s condition can deteriorate; therefore, constant monitoring is necessary. According to Toles, Colón-Emeric, Naylor, Barroso, and Anderson (2016), special equipment is necessary for any person who cannot move on their own to feel safe. The task of an experienced nurse is to be able to cope with such equipment and not to neglect appropriate rules for its operation. The leadership, in its turn, can sometimes ignore the lack of special facilities, which is another acute problem of modern transitional nursing. Therefore, issues should be solved both at the executive and at the controlling level to achieve good quality.
Significance of the Problem to Nursing
The issues described are directly related to nursing since, in the prevailing case, the task of transporting patients rests with junior medical personnel. As a rule, the patient is accompanied by an anesthesiologist if the person is in a postoperative state. However, in some cases, when it is about elderly patients and those who cannot move on their own because of specific problems, this work is performed by ordinary nurses. It is because of the lack of useful information about the rules of this work that periodic obstacles arise, and patients can experience serious discomfort during transportation.
The absence of nurses’ qualifications should be the question raised by the leadership. As Ye et al. (2016) note, the management of the personnel teams should be under the watchful eye of the senior nurse and superiors, and cooperation can be a key to successful work. The sphere of nursing, certainly, is the area that requires constant control. The authorities, as a rule, monitor how the subordinates realize their immediate job duties. Despite the fact that inadequate professional transportation is performed through the fault of nurses and belongs to their field, the task of control should necessarily lie on the leadership.
Purposes of the Research
The basic purpose of the study is to identify the fundamental problems that exist in modern transitional nursing with a view to preventing them and working towards improving the current situation. To achieve this goal, the participation of all members of the work process is required, including both junior medical staff and the management that should monitor subordinates’ performance of their immediate duties. Also, according to Bryant-Lukosius et al. (2015), the work of the nursing staff can be made not only effective but also financially economical. In order to achieve high-quality transitional nursing care, an appropriate scheme can be developed, according to which patients will be able to rely on qualified care, and the management of clinics will not have to spend much money on providing appropriate resources (Donald et al., 2015). Therefore, another goal is the development of a cost-effective and, at the same time, a productive strategy for providing transitional care.
Research Questions
In order to realize the goals and achieve the objectives, specific research questions need to be determined. They will help to specify the range of tasks that will need to be considered and will narrow the range of topics that will be studied as much as possible. Thus, the following questions can be essential and useful:
- What is the main problem of transitional nursing that causes inconvenience to the elderly and sedentary patients and brings problems to the management of clinics?
- What can economic and effective strategies be developed to implement successful transitional care?
- Who should participate in the process of solving the issue of insufficiently qualified nursing care while working with those patients who cannot move on their own?
To answer these questions, different approaches can be used, and the methodology for collecting information can also differ. As a research site, a separate clinic can be taken, and all the data can be collected directly from patients. The results of the analysis of people’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction with transitional care quality can be assessed. Also, information can be collected at a broader level by interviewing respondents, for example, on the Internet. Based on the data obtained, relevant conclusions can be made about the current situation and ways to solve the problems.
Master’s Essentials Accompanying the Topic
For the most high-quality and effective transitional care, appropriate education in the field of nursing will be useful. It is desirable for any specialist to have a Master’s degree in this sphere and to be able to confirm his or her knowledge in practice. Some refresher courses aimed at honing the specific skills of caring for sedentary patients or people who have undergone surgery will be useful enough. A DNS degree is optional; nevertheless, a nurse can always improve personal knowledge, and additional education is always welcomed. Periodic qualification checks should be conducted by the management with a view to controlling the preparedness of personnel.
Conclusion
Thus, the features and peculiarities of transitional nursing are no less essential than any other sphere of nursing care, and appropriate measures should be taken to achieve high-quality assistance. In order to conduct full-fledged research, a number of objectives should be defined, and questions should be put to the project in accordance with a specified direction. Management’s assistance in assessing the performance of the staff and monitoring the efficiency of the performance of their duties are integral components of success. Appropriate educational skills are essential for effective care, and certain refresher courses and other educational programs for medical employees are a very productive way of honing appropriate skills.
References
Bryant-Lukosius, D., Carter, N., Reid, K., Donald, F., Martin-Misener, R., Kilpatrick, K.,… DiCenso, A. (2015). The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of clinical nurse specialist-led hospital to home transitional care: A systematic review. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 21(5), 763-781.
Donald, F., Kilpatrick, K., Reid, K., Carter, N., Bryant-Lukosius, D., Martin-Misener, R.,… DiCenso, A. (2015). Hospital to community transitional care by nurse practitioners: A systematic review of cost-effectiveness. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52(1), 436-451.
Toles, M., Colón-Emeric, C., Naylor, M. D., Barroso, J., & Anderson, R. A. (2016). Transitional care in skilled nursing facilities: A multiple case study. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1), 186-199.
Ye, Z. J., Liu, M. L., Cai, R. Q., Zhong, M. X., Huang, H., Liang, M. Z., & Quan, X. M. (2016). Development of the Transitional Care Model for nursing care in Mainland China: A literature review. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 3(1), 113-130.