A concept analysis of transitional care for people with cancer.
Abbas Mardani, Maryam Azizi, Farshid Alazmani Noodeh and 4 others
PMID 38268301WHAT IT FOUND
Transitional care for people with cancer was described as a coordinated process from hospital to home, involving discharge planning, education, follow-up and care coordination, with aims of reducing readmissions and improving patient and family outcomes.
It does not test whether these aims are achieved.
Key findings
01The analysis defined transitional care for cancer as a complex, multidimensional process with nurse, patient and organisation attributes, and with patient and caregiver antecedents leading to psychological and objective consequences.
02Nurse-related attributes included care planning, symptom identification and management, telephone follow-up after discharge, and coordination with the healthcare team.
03Organisation-related attributes included case management, interdisciplinary working, navigators and care transition coaches, with case managers often nurses.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The concept is broad because it covers all cancer types, so it may not fit a service for one specific cancer. It did not include grey literature, so practical local reports may be missing. It maps concepts and themes from published descriptions; it does not test whether transitional care works. The authors say the concept analysis method may reduce reliability and validity because data collection and analysis are treated as separate steps.
Declared interests
No external funding was received, and the authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that transitional care reduces cancer readmissions or improves quality of life. It is a concept analysis of published descriptions, not a trial or review of tested interventions.