Exposing Baccalaureate Nursing Students to Transitional Care.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Management
• Patient Care Transitions

Background:

• Care transitions are complex and require specialized skills to prevent adverse events.
• There is a recognized need to integrate care transition education into undergraduate nursing curricula.
• Limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of current undergraduate education in care transitions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate an educational experience for baccalaureate nursing students focused on managing hospital to alternative setting care transitions.
• To assess student and preceptor perceptions of the educational intervention's effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• An in-classroom and clinical experience was developed for nursing students.
• An electronic survey was used to collect perceptions from undergraduate nursing students and home healthcare nurse preceptors.
• Forty-eight survey responses were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Students reported an improved understanding of caring for patients during care transitions and preparedness for future courses.
• Home healthcare nurse preceptors affirmed their ability to demonstrate transitional care and student engagement.
• The educational intervention was perceived positively by both students and preceptors.

Conclusions:

• The implemented educational experience effectively enhanced undergraduate nursing students' understanding of care transitions.
• Future initiatives should broaden transitional care education to diverse settings and include interprofessional collaboration.
• Further research is warranted to explore the impact of expanded transitional care education.