Health Sciences

School of Public Health

Higher Degree Research Students/Alumni Profiles

Dr Rosemary Watts

PhD Thesis, completed in 2004

Discharge Planning in Critical Care

Utilising an exploratory descriptive approach, this thesis reports on two studies exploring critical care nurses' perceptions and understanding of discharge planning in the critical care environment in the healthcare system in the state of Victoria, Australia. Study 1 involved a survey of 218 Victorian critical care nurses' discharge planning beliefs and practices. Study 2 involved in-depth interviews of 13 critical care nurses to allow clarification and exploration of the data gained from the questionnaire responses.