Nurses engaging with referral letters and discharge summaries: A qualitative study

Sharon Yahalom; Elizabeth Manias

Journal article

Nurses engaging with referral letters and discharge summaries: A qualitative study

Sharon Yahalom, Elizabeth Manias

Journal of Clinical Nursing (JCN) | Wiley | Published : 2024

DOI: 10.1111/jocn.17054

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the ways that nurses engage with referral letters and discharge summaries, and the qualities of these documents they find valuable for safe and effective practice. Design: This study comprised a qualitative, case-study design within a constructivist paradigm using convenience sampling. Methods: Interviews were conducted with nurses to investigate their practices relating to referral letters and discharge summaries. Data collection also involved nurses' examination and evaluation of a diverse range of 10 referral letters and discharge summaries from medical records at two Australian hospitals through focus-group sessions. The data were transcribed and analysed inductively..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Elizabeth Manias Author

Related Projects (1)

Towards improved quality of written patient records: language proficiency standards for non-native speaking health professionals

This project will focus on the quality and safety of healthcare in Australia by improving the screening of written communication of overseas..

Grants

Awarded by Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship

Funding Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP130100171), Towards improved healthcare communication: Development and validation of language proficiency standards for non-native English-speaking health professionals, as well as with support from Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment. The research was also made possible thanks to the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) scholarship received by Sharon Yahalom, which was funded by the Australian Federal Government. We express our gratitude to the members of the project team: Professor Tim McNamara, Associate Professor Ute Knoch, Associate Professor Cathie Elder, Associate Professor Eleanor Flynn, Professor Robyn Woodward-Kron, Dr Barbara Zhang Ying, Dr Simon Davidson and Annemiek Huisman. We gratefully thank the busy nurses who participated in this study. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.