District nurses and home carers 1: a communication package

Abstract

This article — the first in a series of three — outlines the development of a communication package devised to enhance communication and collaboration between a district nursing team and a social service home care team. Poor communication results in fragmented and uncoordinated care; the fundamental objective of this care intervention was to assist the improvement of patient care by enhancing communication and collaboration between the two teams. This article provides the rationale for the development and implementation of this package drawing on relevant literature to justify the approaches undertaken.