Safety in Transition of Care for Critically Ill Patients: Systematic Literature Review Protocol

Abstract

Introduction

The transition of care refers to the process of transferring responsibility and sharing relevant and accurate clinical information regarding a patient’s health status from one healthcare professional to another.¹ Factors such as the lack of standardized procedures, time pressure, clinical complexity of patients, shortages in human resources, and inadequate professional training² have been identified as compromising the safety and effectiveness of care transitions. These factors increase the likelihood of diagnostic and therapeutic errors, with potentially serious consequences for patients, including permanent injury, as well as economic implications for healthcare institutions.³ Such adverse events are more frequently observed during transitions between the emergency department and intensive care units.

Objective

To synthesize the existing scientific evidence on nursing interventions that ensure an effective care transition for critically ill patients.

Methods

This will be a mixed-methods systematic review, following the guidelines of JBI and PRISMA-P. A comprehensive search will be conducted in the following databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE (via PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and JBI. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies will be included. The review will consider studies that explore nursing interventions in the care transition of critically ill patients between emergency departments and intensive care units, with a focus on the effectiveness and safety of this transition.

Results

This systematic review is expected to provide a comprehensive overview of the available evidence regarding communication and information transfer among nurses, to identify the methods, techniques, and protocols used to address this issue, as well as the instruments employed to monitor adverse events associated with the care transition process. The findings of this review may help identify practices that contribute to improved continuity of care and patient safety.