ABSTRACT Aim This study examined the barriers and facilitators influencing patient adherence to home‐based Staphylococcus aureus decolonisation protocols in individuals undergoing arthroplasty. Design Phenomenological qualitative study. Methods Ethical approval was granted by the Territorial Ethics Committee Lombardia 6 on June 25, 2024 (Protocol No. 0035970/24). Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis to identify recurring themes, categorised into domains related to patient experiences and perceptions. The study was conducted in a private accredited hospital in Northern Italy. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit patients who tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus during the preoperative phase and underwent arthroplasty between January 2024 and May 2025. Participants were adults, provided informed consent and spoke fluent Italian. Results Twenty participants (mean age = 58.3; 60% male; 65% undergoing hip arthroplasty and 35% knee arthroplasty) were interviewed. The analysis identified seven distinct themes, synthesised into three primary domains: psychological barriers, facilitators to adherence and organisational barriers. Patient or Public Contribution Patients contributed as participants by sharing their experiences of the home‐based decolonisation process during individual interviews. Their insights directly informed the identification of barriers and facilitators to adherence.

Admission to an adult intensive care unit (ICU) is a profoundly disruptive experience for both patients and their families. Family-Centred Care (FCC) is the predominant framework for addressing their needs, yet the secondary evidence base is heterogeneous and the specific nursing contribution remains insufficiently theorised. This protocol describes a scoping review designed to systematically map the secondary evidence on FCC in adult ICUs, with particular attention to the nursing role, the nurse–family relationship, and the instruments used to measure FCC-related constructs. Conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology and reported following the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), the review will search six databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus) alongside grey literature, with no date restrictions and eligible sources in English and Italian. Only formal secondary sources (i.e., systematic, scoping, integrative, and narrative reviews, clinical practice guidelines, consensus statements, and position papers) will be included. Two independent reviewers will screen records and extract data using a pre-tested charting tool. The resulting higher-order map of conceptual frameworks, interventions, implementation barriers and facilitators, measurement instruments, and outcomes will clarify the state of existing syntheses and orient future critical care nursing research, practice, and implementation.• Provides a structured, reproducible methodological framework (JBI methodology, PRISMA-ScR reporting) to systematically map the extensive and heterogeneous secondary evidence on Family-Centred Care (FCC) in adult ICUs.• Explicitly targets the underexplored nursing role, mapping how the nurse–family relational dynamic is conceptualised and implemented across existing reviews and guidelines.• Offers a comprehensive, pre-tested, multi-matrix data extraction tool tailored to synthesise diverse evidence types, including interventions, implementation barriers and facilitators, psychometric instruments, and outcomes.

This study aimed to describe the competence profiles, practices, job satisfaction, and interprofessional collaboration among nurses working in Italian anticoagulation clinics (ACs) affiliated with the Italian federation of centres for the surveillance of anticoagulant therapy (FCSA). Data were collected via a web survey from December 2023 to May 2024. The information was condensed into two stochastic components using the t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding (t-SNE) algorithm as part of the hierarchical clustering procedure, revealing two distinct clusters labelled “substandard profile” (n = 21 nurses) and “proficient profile” (n = 38 nurses). Results indicated significant variability in nursing practices, with differences in educational activities, self-reported competence, and levels of interprofessional collaboration between the two clusters. The findings underscore the importance of tailored interventions to enhance nursing practices, nursing education, and interprofessional collaboration within ACs. Future corroboration of the emerging results is warranted with longitudinal studies.

ABSTRACT Aims To examine how nursing‐led support may influence engagement, continuity, adherence, retention, and protocol enactment across the standard care–clinical trial–standard care pathway in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods and Results This focused narrative review used selected realist‐informed interpretive principles as a conceptual lens to synthesize heterogeneous literature related to IBD clinical trials, specialist and clinical research nursing, placebo and nocebo processes, health literacy, teach‐back, telemonitoring, continuity of care, transitions, implementation, and intervention fidelity. Rather than conducting a formal realist review, realist concepts were used to inform the interpretation of how contextual factors, participant reasoning, and implementation conditions may influence nursing‐led support across the clinical trial pathway. Literature was identified through iterative searches in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar, complemented by backward and forward citation tracking. Five interrelated supportive functions emerged across the reviewed literature: expectation‐shaping during screening and enrolment; literacy‐sensitive education and teach‐back; structured hybrid contact and continuity support; transition‐sensitive assistance during trial entry, amendment, and exit phases; and governance strategies promoting role clarity, safety, and equity. Nursing‐led support appeared most relevant when it helped participants interpret uncertainty, understand protocol expectations, maintain continuity, and navigate vulnerable transitions. These functions may contribute to engagement, adherence, retention, and timely symptom reporting by strengthening trust, self‐efficacy, relational continuity, and adherence to practical protocols. Conclusion Nursing‐led support may represent a potential mechanism‐bearing component of IBD clinical trial participation rather than a purely administrative activity. Transition‐sensitive, literacy‐aware, and continuity‐oriented nursing strategies may support safer, more equitable, and more sustainable engagement across increasingly complex clinical trial pathways.

OBJECTIVE:To translate, culturally adapt and evaluate the content validity and preliminary usability of the End-of-Life Wound Assessment Tool (EoL-WAT) for use in the Italian healthcare context. METHOD:A methodological study was conducted between March and May 2026 in collaboration between the Italian Association for the Study of Skin Lesions and the Italian Society of Palliative Care. Following forward and back translation, content validity was evaluated by nine experts, and preliminary usability by seven healthcare professionals. RESULTS:All items exceeded the predefined acceptability threshold for content validity (item-level content validity index (I-CVI)≥0.89). A total of 19 of the 20 evaluations achieved complete agreement (I-CVI=1.00). Overall content validity was excellent (scale-level content validity index (S-CVI)/Ave=0.994; S-CVI/universal agreement=0.95). Usability ratings were favourable across all domains (mean score range: 4.00-4.43). Qualitative feedback led to minor wording refinements without substantial modifications to the instrument. CONCLUSION:The Italian version of the EoL-WAT demonstrated excellent content validity and favourable usability. The instrument is a promising tool for assessing end-of-life wounds, and may facilitate shared clinical understanding and interdisciplinary collaboration in wound care and palliative care settings.

Introduzione. Le lesioni oncologiche vegetanti rappresentano una sfida clinica significativa, influenzando la qualità della vita dei pazienti attraverso sintomi debilitanti come dolore, essudato e odore. Questo studio ha avuto l’obiettivo di tradurre, adattare e validare la Malignant Wound Assessment Tool-Clinical version (MWAT-C) per la valutazione delle lesioni oncologiche vegetanti in Italia. Metodi. Lo studio ha seguito un disegno metodologico multifase: traduzione backward and forward; la versione italiana è stata valutata da 18 esperti sanitari attraverso un’analisi della validità di facciata e di contenuto. Risultati. Il valore complessivo di S-CVI è risultato pari a 0,96, con valori di I-CVI compresi tra 0,78 e 1,00. Gli item relativi al dolore, all’odore e all’essudato sono stati giudicati come particolarmente rilevanti dagli esperti. Alcuni item, come la percezione della ferita da parte del paziente, hanno ricevuto valutazioni inferiori, evidenziando difficoltà nell’auto-valutazione delle lesioni. Conclusione. L’uso di questo strumento potrebbe migliorare la qualità delle cure, ridurre la variabilità nelle pratiche cliniche e facilitare un approccio multidimensionale.

Improving accrual to clinical trials is critical in oncology, particularly in studies evaluating treatment de-escalation or modification strategies, such as endocrine therapy (ET) switch trials in breast cancer. In disease-free patients who have completed an initial period of standard adjuvant ET, decision-making is shaped by individual, clinical, and contextual factors that may act as barriers and facilitators to trial participation. The lack of validated instruments complicates the comprehensive evaluation of these determinants. Therefore, our study aimed to develop and validate a scale for measuring barriers and facilitators to clinical trial participation in adjuvant endocrine therapy switch trials (CAMBRIA-1 and EMBER-4) among breast cancer patients. Therefore, a multiphase study was undertaken: phase one focused on item generation through literature review and expert consensus; phase two assessed preliminary validity through content and face validation (S-CVI and CVR) and pre-testing (Cronbach’s alpha). The final scale encompassed 17 items and exhibited strong evidence of face and content validity (S-CVI = 0.78 and CVR > 0.725 for all items) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.874). Since preliminary internal consistency has been established, this tool may support future psychometric refinement and large-scale investigations. An understanding of these determinants may inform trial enrolment and drug development in breast cancer management, as well as tailor patient engagement strategies.

Background/Objectives: Nurse transition programmes are widely implemented to support newly hired nurses and promote workforce retention. Despite the growing number of published reviews, conceptual inconsistency and methodological heterogeneity limit the interpretability and cumulative value of the evidence. This umbrella review aimed to synthesise and critically examine review-level evidence on nurse transition programmes, clarifying programme typologies, contexts, methodological approaches, reported outcomes, and thematic patterns. Methods: An umbrella review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidance. Systematic searches were performed in CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, supplemented by citation tracking. Results: Fourteen reviews published between 2010 and 2025 were included: 12 reviews of primary studies and two reviews of secondary evidence (one umbrella review and one meta-review). Programme models and outcome measures were highly heterogeneous, and primary study overlap was slight (CCA = 2.55), indicating that reviews in the corpus drew on largely non-overlapping sets of primary studies. Transition programmes for new nurses commonly use one-on-one preceptorships with supernumerary practice, simulation-based learning, and active methods like case studies and reflective journaling to build competence and confidence. Their duration varies from a few days to 12 months, aligning with the progressive learning curve of new graduates. Professional outcomes, particularly competence and confidence, were consistently reported, whereas organisational outcomes, such as retention, showed mixed, methodologically constrained evidence. Patient-level outcomes were rarely examined. Thematic analysis revealed a shift over time from individual professional readiness towards implementation and organisational considerations. Conclusions: Given this conceptual plurality, there is an urgent need to standardise key indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of nurse transition programmes across healthcare settings globally.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative condition and has a profound impact on patients' quality of life. Effective management requires active self-care, in which health literacy (HL) plays a critical role by enabling patients to acquire, interpret, and apply knowledge about their condition. This review aimed to map the existing literature on HL in PD and assess its impact on disease management. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines and reported following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis extension for Scoping Review. Relevant studies were identified through systematic searches of 7 major databases. Eligibility criteria were structured using the Population-Concept-Context framework. RESULTS: Sixteen studies were included, most published between 2016 and 2024 and predominantly from high-income countries. The studies investigated key HL dimensions, including knowledge of motor and nonmotor symptoms, medication management, and patient-provider communication. Findings revealed substantial gaps in functional HL, particularly in recognizing nonmotor symptoms and understanding pharmacological regimens, while interactive and critical HL were rarely assessed. Across studies, age, education level, and disease duration consistently influenced HL levels. Importantly, no standardized or personalized HL interventions for PD were identified. CONCLUSIONS: HL in PD remains underdeveloped, with current research largely focused on functional HL and limited exploration of interactive or critical domains. Integrating HL assessment into routine care and developing nursing-led, personalized interventions may improve self-care, treatment adherence, and long-term outcomes for people with PD. Future research should prioritize validated measurement tools, multimodal interventions, and studies in diverse populations to address existing gaps.

The growing complexity of clinical trials, particularly in oncology, has significantly increased the operational burden on research staff. However, standardized and validated instruments to measure trial-related workload remain scarce. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Italian version of Ontario Protocol Assessment Level (I-OPAL) tool for the Italian context, providing a reliable framework for workload planning and feasibility assessment. A cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted across Italian research institutions. The OPAL tool was translated and culturally adapted following established validation procedures. Content validity was assessed using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR), while inter-rater reliability was evaluated with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Discriminant validity was examined through non-parametric tests, effect size measures, and multiple correspondence analysis. A total of 513 clinical trials were included. The OPAL tool showed excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.93) and all items met the minimum CVR threshold (0.78–1.00). Significant differences in OPAL scores were observed across study type, clinical setting, sample size, and duration (all p < 0.001), with large effect sizes (ε2 up to 0.645). Higher OPAL scores were positively correlated with greater allocation of research staff, particularly nurses and data managers. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of findings, and internal consistency checks revealed full alignment with the model’s classification rules. The Italian validation of OPAL confirmed its reliability, validity, and practical relevance as a tool for standardized workload assessment in clinical research. Its integration into feasibility analyses and trial planning could enhance resource allocation, regulatory compliance, and sustainability of research activities in Italy.

BACKGROUND:Evidence-based practice (EBP) is widely endorsed as a cornerstone for high-quality, patient-centered care. However, its integration into daily clinical routines remains inconsistent, particularly in settings where cultural, educational, and organizational challenges persist. Reliable, contextually adapted tools are essential to measure EBP implementation and guide improvement efforts. AIMS:This study aimed to validate the Italian versions of the EBP Implementation Scale and its short-form (3-item) version. METHODS:A cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Both versions of the EBP Implementation Scale were translated and culturally adapted in accordance with internationally recognized guidelines. Data were gathered from a national sample of 405 nurses through a combination of convenience and snowball sampling. Psychometric assessment encompassed confirmatory and Bayesian factor analyses, evaluation of internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and measurement invariance testing. All analyses were performed in R Studio. RESULTS:Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that both versions (long and short) of the scale measure a single underlying construct. The instruments demonstrated high reliability (ω = 0.96 and 0.87 respectively). Measurement invariance across educational groups was partially established, as the partial scalar invariance model demonstrated acceptable fit (CFI = 0.991, RMSEA = 0.045), suggesting consistent interpretation of the scale across different levels of EBP training. Latent profile analysis revealed distinct subgroups of EBP implementers, with notable differences in latent means (p < 0.001) associated with previous education in evidence-based practice. DISCUSSION:The Italian EBP Implementation Scales are valid and reliable tools for assessing EBP implementation behaviors. They can support education planning, monitor practice changes over time, and inform interventions aimed at enhancing evidence-based care.

This study aimed to examine the feasibility of applying an exploratory clustering approach to Italian nurses based on their self-efficacy in nutritional care and demographic characteristics and, secondarily, to describe preliminary subgroup patterns that may inform future research. A cross-sectional design was employed, collecting data from 77 nurses in two northern Italian tertiary hospitals. Self-efficacy was assessed using a validated scale, and clustering was performed via hierarchical clustering following data reduction with t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE). A two-group exploratory solution was retained for interpretation: (1) "Experienced Nurses with Low to Moderate Self-Efficacy" and (2) "Younger and Confident Nurses." Significant differences in age, work experience, and self-efficacy scores were observed between the groups. This study highlights subgroup heterogeneity among nurses and suggests that exploratory subgroup patterns may be relevant for hypothesis generation and future multicenter investigations to enhance self-efficacy in nutritional care. The results provide preliminary evidence supporting the feasibility of this analytic approach and may inform future research aimed at improving nursing performance and nutritional care for older adults.

Abstract Objective: To explore how Clinical Research Nurses in Italy define, enact, and progressively negotiate their professional identity within everyday clinical research practice. Methods: We conducted a descriptive qualitative interview study with transformer-assisted semantic clustering, reported in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist. Semi-structured videoconference interviews were undertaken between March and August 2025 with purposively sampled Clinical Research Nurses from Italian research centres. Transcripts were anonymised. Analysis combined clustering of semantic embeddings derived from interview segments with team-based qualitative interpretation of the resulting clusters through iterative reading, contextual checking, and reflexive discussion. Results: Thirteen CRNs described professional identity as boundary work between protocol fidelity and person-centred care. The final thematic structure comprised two overarching themes and five sub-themes. Theme 1, “Being Between Protocol and Person: Clinical Research Nursing as Boundary Work,” included four sub-themes: acting as custodians of the participant’s trial journey; enacting the protocol in everyday clinical work; making invisible infrastructural work visible and recognised; and challenges stemming from limited involvement in organisational decision-making. Theme 2, “Building a Nursing Identity: The Path Toward a Clinical Research Role,” included two sub-themes: learning by doing through mentoring and everyday practice; and moving from ward-based nursing into research while bringing research back to clinical practice through curiosity and professional networks. Conclusions: Clinical Research Nurses articulate a form of translational caring that safeguards both participants and research integrity. Strengthening role recognition, providing structured education and mentoring, and including CRNs in trial governance and planning may enhance participant experience, reinforce safety processes, and support high-quality study delivery.

Background/Objectives: Structured transition care models for adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) are increasingly advocated, but methodological evidence to support the design of adequately powered randomized trials remains limited. This pilot randomized study was designed primarily to assess the feasibility of repeated patient-reported outcome (PRO) collection and to generate empirical parameters for planning a future confirmatory trial, rather than to formally evaluate intervention efficacy. Methods: This was a single-center, parallel-group, pilot randomized controlled trial conducted at Meyer Children's Hospital, Florence, Italy, within the TELEMACO project (NCT05713591). Twenty-three adolescents with CHD were randomized 1:1 to a structured transition care intervention (n = 11) or usual care (n = 12). PROs, including the SF-12 Physical (PCS12) and Mental (MCS12) Component Summaries, health engagement, life satisfaction, and healthcare needs, were collected at baseline and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Pre-specified exploratory analyses addressed retention, missingness, linear mixed-effects models, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), and sample size scenarios. Results: Retention at 12 months was 63.6% (intervention) and 58.3% (control), with substantially lower completion rates at intermediate assessments (T2-T3: 27-50%), directly affecting the reliability of longitudinal estimates at those time points. Mixed-effects models showed no significant time-by-group interaction for PCS12 (p = 0.13) or MCS12 (p = 0.39); unadjusted contrasts suggested nominally higher PCS12 values in the intervention group at selected assessments. ICCs were approximately 0 for PCS12 and 0.56 for MCS12, indicating fundamentally different variance structures. Conclusions: Repeated PRO collection was feasible, though retention across intermediate assessments was inconsistent. The pilot generated empirically grounded estimates for the design of a future confirmatory trial. Sample-size scenarios were highly sensitive to uncertainty in the PCS12 variability estimate, ranging from approximately 25 to 115 analyzable participants per group, depending on the true standard deviation. Within this pilot dataset, PCS12 at 12 months, analyzed cross-sectionally with baseline adjustment, emerged as a provisional endpoint option requiring further evaluation in an adequately powered confirmatory trial.

Background and Purpose: Ensuring safety in psychiatry is crucial, but practices vary widely. This study aimed to validate the Italian version of the Ward Safety and Security Rules Survey (WSSRS-I). Methods: The validation process included cultural-linguistic adaptation, followed by content and face validation. Fifteen experts assessed content validity using the content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (item level [I-CVI] and scale level [S-CVI]), adjusted for chance agreement (k*). Five psychiatric nurses evaluated face validity. Results: The WSSRS-I achieved substantial agreement on cultural-linguistic adaptation (Fleiss's kappa = .85) and item relevance (CVRs = .60-1; I-CVIs = .73-1; k* = .72-1; S-CVI = 0.90). Psychiatric nurses confirmed WSSRS-I appropriateness. Conclusions: The WSSRS-I demonstrated adequate content and face validity. It provides a tool to assess safety measures in Italian psychiatric settings, enhancing psychiatric nursing practices and research.

Background. Scientific congresses act as observatories of a professional community’s priorities and methods. The abstracts submitted to a national oncology nursing congress form a real-world corpus through which research and practice trajectories can be examined empirically rather than impressionistically. Objective. To identify and interpret the emerging topics within the abstracts included in the AIIAO 2026 Congress proceedings using lexicometric analysis followed by topic modelling, and to discuss their implications for the oncology nursing agenda. Methods. Exploratory, corpus-based text-mining study. The English structured bodies of the 82 included abstracts were preprocessed (lowercasing; removal of punctuation, digits and structural headings; lemmatization; moderate stopword control; n-gram detection). Lexicometric descriptives were computed, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation models were estimated for k = 4-7. The number of topics was selected by combining coherence with the CaoJuan2009, Arun2010 and Deveaud2014 criteria and interpretability, not by automatic optimisation alone. Results. The corpus contained 21,347 running words and 3,568 unique word forms (type-token ratio 0.167; 44.6% hapax). A five-topic solution was selected: care pathways, procedural safety and quality improvement (35.4%); self-management, treatment adherence and nursing surveillance (14.6%); nursing research capacity and symptom-distress measurement (19.5%); professional roles, leadership and organizational/ethical development (17.1%); and palliative and supportive care, quality of life and continuity (13.4%). The latent topics cut across the author-assigned editorial clusters. Conclusions. The topics suggest a maturing research community oriented towards safe, standardized and person-centred care, supported by advanced roles, outcome measurement and digital health. The findings describe the submitted corpus and are not representative of Italian oncology nursing as a whole.

INTRODUCTION:Missed nursing care threatens quality and safety, but patient counts may not capture shift-level demands. We examined associations of patient-count and perceived workload indicators with missed care, separating within- and between-nurse effects. DESIGN:A multicenter observational study using repeated shift-level measurements. METHODS:The study included 502 shift records from 213 nurses in 16 medical-surgical units across six Italian hospitals; the primary analysis included 480 records from 196 nurses. Patient-count indicators were nurse-reported numbers of assigned, isolated, and specialist-care patients; perceived workload included work rhythm/quantity, mental workload, emotional workload, and work organization. Grouped-binomial generalized estimating equations modeled the proportion of applicable activities missed, with nurse clustering, robust standard errors, exchangeable correlation, and hospital fixed effects. Workloads were decomposed into within- and between-nurse components, and four missed-care domains were examined. RESULTS:Nurses reported a mean of 6.5 missed activities per shift; 29.9% of shifts had no missed care. The seven workload indicators were jointly associated with missed care (robust Wald χ2[7] = 22.95, p = 0.002). Work rhythm/quantity was the only individual indicator with a nominal p-value below 0.05 (OR 1.24 per SD, 95% CI 1.03-1.49; p = 0.023), but it did not remain significant after Benjamini-Hochberg correction (q = 0.159). Assigned patient count was not clearly associated (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.94-1.40; p = 0.192). In exploratory within-between analyses, the between-nurse work rhythm/quantity component was associated with missed care (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.11-1.82; p = 0.005), whereas the within-nurse component was not (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.90-1.17; p = 0.649). Domain-specific associations did not remain significant after multiplicity adjustment. CONCLUSION:The workload indicators were jointly associated with missed nursing care, with secondary analyses indicating that the global signal was evident in the perceived-workload block. However, no individual workload indicator remained statistically significant after multiplicity adjustment. Work rhythm/quantity and its between-nurse component should therefore be regarded as exploratory signals requiring confirmation in studies with denser repeated measurements. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:Workload surveillance research should evaluate patient-count and multidimensional perceived-workload indicators together. The present coefficient-specific findings are insufficient to support the operational use of work rhythm/quantity as a stand-alone workload indicator.

Adolescents and young adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) face significant challenges when transitioning from pediatric to adult care. Despite growing recognition of its importance, transitional care remains inconsistently implemented across healthcare systems, and a summary of published literature in this regard is still missing. This scoping review aims to systematically map the literature on CHD transitional care and identify key topics and trends. Following Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, we conducted a comprehensive search across seven electronic databases using the Population, Concept, and Context framework. A total of 73 studies were included. Data were extracted and analyzed using Latent Dirichlet Allocation to identify core topics, and Multiple Correspondence Analysis was applied to explore thematic relationships and validate topic structure. Lexicometric analysis assessed the linguistic complexity and specificity of the literature. Three major themes emerged: (1) Education, Self-Management, and Structured Support, (2) Timing, Knowledge Transfer, and Developmental Needs, and (3) Transition Program Implementation and Coordination. These themes reflect an increasing focus on structured educational strategies, developmentally tailored care, and system-level program delivery. Education-focused interventions were more frequently found in recent, high-quality experimental studies. In contrast, studies addressing timing and developmental needs and those focused on implementation were more common in earlier-phase or heterogeneous research contexts. Transitional care for individuals with CHD requires more standardized, evidence-based approaches. Improved documentation when reporting transitional care is essential to enhance fidelity, scalability, and long-term impact. This review provides a foundation for developing outcome-focused research and supports designing individualized, high-quality transition programs.