Transitions of patient care between providers are vulnerable periods in health care delivery that expose patients to preventable errors and adverse events. The transition of patients from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a medical or surgical hospital ward is one of the most challenging and high-risk transitions of care. W21C is supporting this research program, which is exploring stakeholder experiences with transition of care from ICU through survey, medical record review and interviews, and an expert panel review to determine the key elements that should be included in an evidence-informed ICU transfer toolkit. Previous work included a national multi-centre observational study with ICU providers, ward providers, patients and families to describe current discharge practices and experiences, and identify the facilitators and barriers to high quality patient transfer out of ICU.
