How Nurses Coordinate Patient Care

When patients go to the hospital, they want their treatment to go as smoothly as possible, with everything happening at the expected time and they want up-to-date information about their care. Good care coordination in the hospital can affect how long a patient stays in the hospital, whether mistakes happen and whether the patient is prepared to go home and do well once out of the hospital and requires a lot of work by nurses behind the scenes. An INQRI team at Emory University has developed a tool to uncover and communicate the role staff nurses play in coordinating care for hospitalized patients. Through this research, the team has identified what care coordination activities nurses do and which are important for better care. Early tests of the tool have been promising, and show a link between nurse care coordination activities in the hospital and important patient outcomes. The team plans to refine the tool for the clinical setting to help nurses and discharge planners provide the highest quality care to patients. This research should lead to a better understanding of how to improve outcomes.

To learn about other INQRI teams making a positive effect on acute care, please click here.