Development and validation of the Care Transitions Scale for Patients with Heart Failure: A tool for nurses to assess patients' readiness for hospital discharge

Aim: This study aimed to develop and assess the validity and reliability of the Care Transitions Scale for Patients with Heart Failure (CTS-HF) as a nurse-reported measure for evaluating patients' readiness for hospital discharge. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of cardiovascular ward nurses from 163 hospitals across Japan. Structural validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis with development participants and confirmatory factor analysis with validation participants. Convergent validity was assessed by correlation with the Discharge Planning of Ward Nurses scale (DPWN). Hypotheses testing for construct validity was performed as comparisons between subgroups of transitional care practice. Results: Valid responses were obtained from 704 nurses (development participants, n = 352; validation participants, n = 352). The final scale comprised 21 items divided into six factors: "Clear preparation for how to manage health at home," "Adjusting to home care/support system," "Transitions of medication management from hospital to home," "Dealing with patients' concerns and questions," "Transitions of disease management from hospital to home," and "Family support." Indices of fit supported these results (comparative fit index = 0.944, root mean square error of approximation = 0.057). The CTS-HF was significantly correlated with the DPWN. The nurses' subgroup with higher transitional care practice had higher CTS-HF scores. Cronbach's alpha was .93 for the CTS-HF. Conclusions: The CTS-HF showed sufficient reliability and validity for use in evaluating discharge care. Further studies are needed regarding the usefulness of this scale in nursing practice.