A home health nurse visits a client and his spouse once per week to ch

QUESTION

A home health nurse visits a client and his spouse once per week to change the client’s wound dressing.

By visiting the client and his spouse weekly, the nurse develops a sense of clinical responsibility and an accumulated knowledge of the client and spouse’s personal and medical circumstances. This situation describes which component of continuity of care (COC)?

a. Internal continuity
b. Relational continuity
c. Management continuity
d. Informational continuity

ANSWER:

ANS: B
Relational continuity refers to the interpersonal elements of the COC model across time and care settings. The term applies to nurse client/family relationships, team relationships, and relationships between health system providers and community-based supports. The stronger the relationships, the greater are the potential for quality-coordinated care. Respect for client and family values, beliefs, knowledge, cultural background, and preferences are fundamental aspects of client-centered relational continuity. Trusting relationships with a primary provider or “medical home” health care team gives clients confidence that their care needs will be consistently met.