| Summary: | Abstract Aim Discharge planning (DP) guides patients' transition to out‐hospital services. This systematic review investigates nurses' knowledge, perception and practices of discharge planning. Design We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. Methods Search terms were used to identify research studies published between 1990–2020 across six databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, Complete Academic search, Science Direct and Google Scholar. A total of nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Results Nine articles revealed nurses' knowledge, perspectives and practices of discharge planning. Obstacles included low‐level knowledge of patients' activities and discharge; inability to define DP; debates over the timing of beginning, implementing and preparing discharge; patients and their family members' negative attitudes towards DP; and perceiving DP as excessive, time‐consuming paperwork for which the physician is responsible. Better time management during work improves DP in acute care settings.
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