Abstract
Adults with schizophrenia face multiple challenges as they transition to a home setting following discharge from inpatient psychiatric units. These challenges can contribute to high rates of re-hospitalization and increase cost of health care services. Home health care nurses play an integral role in mitigating these challenges; however, little is known about the experiences of nurses as they care for this population. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of home health nurses in caring for adults with schizophrenia following discharge to a home setting from inpatient psychiatric unit. A qualitative descriptive design was used to collect data from a purposive sample of 16 registered nurses across the United States. Six themes emerged from the data: Communication, care coordination, first encounter, building nurse-patient relationship, mitigating risk, and sense of fulfillment. The findings of the study offer a few interesting and unique insights into the home health care registered nurses’ experiences of caring for adults with schizophrenia that are useful to consider in future training and support for home health nurses.