Quality and Safety for Stroke Care Transition within Simulation: The Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse

Abstract : Older adults living with stroke and other comorbidities often experience care transitions across multiple health sectors. Multiple transitions jeopardize safe patient care. Understanding best practices for integrated stroke care is critical to ensuring patients receive quality care to support full community reintegration. Stroke care follows a collaborative, interprofessional model of care incorporating multiple healthcare professionals and unregulated healthcare providers guided by the best practices for integrated stroke care. Interprofessional integrated care planning and effective communication are essential to ensure continuity of care, safety, and to reduce risk of complications and adverse events during stroke care particularly at transition points.
Our team has developed a unique actor simulation that focuses on enhancing competencies for integrated care in interprofessional teamwork to support quality and safety.
The simulation is unique in that it focuses on enhancing competencies for Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) who often work in leadership roles to support quality and safety e.g., professional practice leaders, clinical educators, CNS roles, stroke care coordinators. The simulation also is intentionally focused on managing a complex stroke patient’s trajectory through a formal integrated care transition from hospital to home. The simulation will incorporate concepts related to current system-level changes and existing integrated models of care in Ontario. Integrated care models are people-centred approaches to address fragmented care systems to improve quality of care, through the coordination of people’s care needs across services, providers, and settings. The simulation promotes active learning, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.

Please include a short summary of your presentation that highlights why an attendee would want to participate in your session.: This novel simulation consists of two video-recorded scenes featuring an interprofessional integrated approach to stroke care across two care transitions from 1) acute care to a rehabilitation hospital and 2) a rehabilitation hospital back to the patient’s home in the community. The simulation provides an opportunity for supporting APN education and practice toward the outcome of enhancing safe quality integrated stroke care.