The Documentation Used by the Nurses During the Transition From the Hospital to the Community Setting: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to identify the content of documentation used between hospital and community care and describe the communication mechanisms that allow the continuity of care.

Design: We conducted a scoping review following the JBI recommendations.

Methods: The sources of the information used were obtained from the MEDLINE and CINAHL databases (via EBSCO), Web of Science, SCOPUS, Joanna Briggs Institute and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Additionally, grey literature was included. The databases searched from 2018 to 2023 for articles written in English and Portuguese. Two researchers independently screened articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a third researcher adjudicated disagreements.

Results: We retrieved 3217 articles, of which 5 were included. Six themes were summarised from these articles: Communication and information between clinical practice environments; Discharge letter content; The use of technologies in healthcare communication; Client empowerment in information communication; Factors hindering the safe transition of information between hospital and community; and Benefits of secure information transition between hospital and community.

Implications for the profession and/or patient care: The results allow systematisation of the information that should accompany the person at the time of discharge to ensure the continuity of transitional care, including the patient/family's own perception of their difficulties and needs.

Reporting method: PRISMA 2020.

Keywords: continuity of care; documentation; nursing; transitional care.

FIGURE 1

PRISMA 2020 flowchart. Lisbon, 2023.