Nursing Checklist of Home Care Guidelines for Informal Caregivers in the Hospital Discharge Transition

Abstract

Introduction: The use of pre-discharge tools enables the nursing team to guide informal caregivers, promoting continued care at home, which can minimize readmissions. Objective: To develop and validate a checklist to support the nursing team in guiding informal caregivers regarding home care during the discharge transition process. Materials and Methods: This is a methodological study, submitted to 14 nurse judges, who evaluated a checklist on care guidelines for informal caregivers in the hospital discharge transition. The study was performed in three stages: A literature review, the development of the checklist, and validation using the Delphi technique, which was conducted from February 2022 to January 2023, and the data was treated using scale reliability analysis, a content validity index, and an intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: The checklist was comprised of 10 domains: Hygiene and comfort; tracheostomy; oxygen therapy; nutrition; indwelling urinary catheter; ostomies; dressings; risk of falls; medication; returns and referrals, totaling 32 guidelines for informal caregivers. The checklist was submitted to two validation stages and, after implementing the changes suggested by the judges, a content validity index of 100% agreement was obtained between the evaluators, with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.84 and an intraclass correlation index of 0.80. Conclusions: The checklist presents good reliability, intraclass correlation, and content validation, and can be applied in professional practice and scientific settings regarding the transition to hospital discharge of critically ill patients, helping to promote continued care at home.