Optimized Continuity of Care Report on Nursing Compliance and Review: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

The Continuity of Care Report (CCR) is a fundamental document for ensuring high-quality healthcare and a smooth transition between different levels of care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of optimizing the CCR to improve its completion rate by hospital nurses and its review by primary care nurses. To achieve this, a retrospective observational study was conducted on patients discharged from the University Hospital of La Plana de Vila-real during two three-month periods, one prior to the CCR improvement (2022) and one after (2023). No increase in the completion rate for the CCR was observed following its optimization (p = 0.226). However, a statistically significant improvement was noted in the percentage of reports reviewed (p > 0.001), increasing from 4.4% (n = 49) in 2022 to 30.5% (n = 327) in 2023. These results indicate that the optimization of the Continuity of Care Report enhances the communication between specialized care and primary care professionals.

Keywords

• nursing
• nursing records
• continuity of care
• healthcare quality