Trauma Patient Transitions From Critical Care: A Survey of U.S. Trauma Centers

Transitions between clinical units are vulnerable periods for patients. A significant body of evidence describes the importance of structured transitions, but there is limited reporting of what happens. Describing transitions within a conceptual model will characterize the salient forces that interact during a patient transition and, perhaps, lead to improved outcomes.

To describe the processes and resources that trauma centers use to transition patients from critical care to nonintensive care units.

This cross-sectional study surveyed all Level I and II trauma centers listed in the American Trauma Society database from September 2020 to November 2020. Data were merged from the American Hospital Association 2018 Hospital Survey.

A total of 567 surveys were distributed, of which 152 responded for a (27%) response rate. Results were organized in categories: capital input, organizational facets, employee behavior, employee terms/scope, and labor inputs. Resources and processes varied; the most important opportunities for transition improvement included: (1) handoff instruments were only reported at 36% (n = 27) of trauma centers, (2) mandatory resident education about transitions was only reported at 70% (n = 16) of trauma centers, and (3) only 6% (n = 4) of trauma centers reported electronic medical record applications that enact features to influence employee behavior.

After years of focusing on transitions as a high-stake period, there remain many opportunities to develop resources and enact effective processes to address the variability in transition practice across trauma centers.