The effect of interactive workshop on the quality of intra-hospital patients’ transfer: A quasi-experimental study

Background & Aim: Transferring critically ill patients from intensive care units to other wards is inevitable and may be associated with risks and complications for the patient. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of training nurses through an interactive workshop on the quality of intra-hospital transfer of hospitalized patients in intensive care units. Methods & Materials: In this quasi-experimental study, at first, the quality of intra-hospital transfer of patients from intensive care units were observed and assessed. Then, all the nurses working at these units participated in an interactive workshop. One month after the intervention, the quality of patients’ intra-hospital transfer was re-evaluated by a checklist. Finally, the collected data was analyzed using SPSS software version 16. Results: Results of this study showed that the quality of most of the intra-hospital transfers was undesirable (66%) and none of the transfers was performed in a desirable level, while, 52% of them had desirable quality after the intervention. The mean score of the quality of patient transfer was significantly increased from 47.49±9.55 at the pre-intervention phase to 67.47±12.80 at the post-intervention phase (P<0.001). Conclusions: According to the results, training nurses about the standards of intra-hospital patient transfer can improve the quality of intra-hospital transfer of critically ill patients that has not just become acceptable now and need to be improved. Therefore, to promote safe transfer of critically ill patients, it is recommended that nurses must undergo in-service training, especially as this subject does not exist in the formal nursing curriculum.