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The continuum of care: a concept development study.
Merry McBryde-Foster1, Toni Allen
1Louise Herrington School of Nursing, Baylor University, Dallas, Texas 75246, USA. merry_mcbryde-foster@baylor.edu
Journal of Advanced Nursing
|June 2, 2005
Summary
This study defines the continuum of care, identifying key attributes like people, environment, events, and time. Understanding these elements is crucial for healthcare practice and research.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Nursing Research
- Concept Analysis
Background:
- The 'continuum of care' is a widely used but inadequately defined term in healthcare literature.
- Existing literature often assumes understanding without explicit definition or analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define the 'continuum of care' concept through rigorous concept development.
- To identify and communicate the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of the continuum of care.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of 153 articles from nursing and allied health journals.
- Manual extraction and analysis of keywords using EndNote and MS Excel.
- Categorization and ranking of keywords to identify unifying attributes.
Main Results:
- Four core attributes of the continuum of care were identified: people, environment, events, and time.
- A comprehensive definition of the continuum of care was developed.
- An exemplar case illustrating the concept was presented.
Conclusions:
- The continuum of care is a distinct concept with identifiable and describable attributes.
- The developed definition and exemplar case provide a framework for understanding the continuum of care.
- Further research can build upon this conceptual clarity.