An educational program to prepare acute care nurses for a transition to home health care nursing.

This article describes a continuing education program that prepares nurses with experience in acute care nursing for the transition to home health care nursing. The program is a 12-credit hour, two semester college program consisting of 8 hours of theory and 4 hours of clinical practicum. A coalition of hospitals, home health agencies and an educational institution designed the program to maintain the economic welfare of nurses in an era of hospital layoffs, promote professional development and enhance the transition of nurses to home health nursing.