Development of a measurement instrument to assess patient safe transition at hospital discharge

Abstract

Objective: To develop and validate the content of a measurement instrument to assess the quality of care transitions and patient safety at hospital discharge from the nurses' perspective.

Methods: A methodological study developed in southern Brazil between April 2019 and January 2022, in three stages: integrative review and semi-structured interviews with six nurses for construction of the instrument; content validation with a committee of 14 experts; and a pre-test with 20 nurses. A Content Validity Index above 0.80 was employed.

Results: A measurement instrument with 37 items organized into six domains was developed, as follows: structure; discharge planning; care education; referral for continuity of care; safety culture, and care transitions results. The general Content Validity Index reached 0.93.

Conclusions: The measurement instrument presented content validation and will contribute to understanding transitional care in the Brazilian context, proposing changes to qualify and strengthen patient safety at hospital discharge.