The Effect of Transition Nursing Program from Intensive Care Units to General Units on Anxiety and Satisfaction of Patients and Their Families: A Clinical Trial Study

Transferring patients from intensive care units to general units can increase anxiety in patients and their families, which can lead to re-admission of patients in intensive units and increase hospitalization costs.

The present study was performed with aim to determine the effect of the transition nursing program from intensive care units to general units on the anxiety and satisfaction of patients and their families.

This randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 50 patients hospitalized in surgical ICUs and 50 of their relatives. The research units were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. Before transfer, patients and their families filled out the Spielberger and satisfaction questionnaire. Then, the transition nursing program was implemented and the patient was examined by the liaison nurse immediately, 8, 16 and 24 hours after transfer. Then, the questionnaires were filled out again. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 22). p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

After the implementation of the nursing transfer program, the anxiety of patients (34.68±8.02) and their families (32.52±7.84) reduced in the intervention group compared with the control group (p<0.0001). Also, the satisfaction of the patients (47.64±5.65) and their families(45.56±6.10) significantly increased in the intervention group (p<0.000).

Implications for Practice: 

The transition nursing program reduces anxiety and increases the level of satisfaction in patients and their families. The findings of the present research can be suggested to the policymakers and nursing managers in order to plan to improve the role of nurses as liaison nurses.