Hong Kong general ward nurses' experiences of transitional care for patients discharged from the intensive care unit: An inductive thematic analysis

The aim of this study was to explore and better understand the experiences of Hong Kong general ward nurses who care for post-intensive care patients. Inductive thematic analysis and focus groups interviews were used in this study. A purposive sample of 20 ward-based registered nurses were recruited, formed five focus groups and interviewed online using video-conferencing media. The ward nurses in this study described the difficulties and challenges they experienced caring for the post-intensive care patient. Issues around workload and patient allocation figured highly along with a lack of education and training. Many felt scared and helpless when caring for these patients which significantly increased their anxiety. Some were compelled to spend more time with their other patients while others were so consumed with the post-ICU patient that they often neglected their other patients. The handover from the intensive care unit nurse was filled with trepidation and concern because of the level of information being handed-over was alien and complex to them so was the medications and the level of monitoring the intensive care unit nurse expected which was not often forthcoming on the ward simply because they didn’t know what they were doing. The findings of this study demonstrate that these ward-nurses found themselves in a difficult situation with trying to understand of the needs of the post-intensive care patient. A lack of support, a lack of education and an increased workload made this situation hard. One possible solution is the development and evaluation of a critical care outreach team to support ward-based decision-making. Combined with formal training and education around the acutely ill and /or the deteriorating patient would be a positive step forward. The post-intensive care patient poses significant challenges to ward nurses unfamiliar with the level of care they require. Unlike intensive care unit nurses whose focus is on survival and preventing deterioration, the ward nurse’s attention is meeting the activities of daily living and progressing the patient’s rehabilitation. One of the major obstacle experienced was at handover and the transferring of responsibility where the information conveyed was overly complex and to the ward nurse mostly irrelevant. For this, critical nurses must improve their proficiency at handover so that information is tailored to the needs of the ward environment. One way would be the development of a intensive care unit/