Abstract: Objective: To summarize the evidence on the application of discharge planning for patients with chronic heart failure. Methods: A review of the literature for discharge planning for patients with chronic heart failure in guide sites and databases was conducted, and all the available best practice evidences, recommendations for clinical practice, guidelines, evidence summaries, system reviews and expert consensuses were included. The Joanna Briggs Institute evidence appraisal and recommendation system was used to evaluate the quality of studies and the level of evidence. Results: Totally 14 literatures were included, including 1 best practice information sheet, 2 clinical practice guidelines, 4 evidence summaries, 6 systematic reviews and 1 expert consensuse, and 15 evidences on discharge planning for patients with chronic heart failure were extracted and summarized from the three aspects of objective, principle and contents. Conclusion: Selecting best evidence on the base of combining characteristics of hospital departments and clinical situations, to standardize the clinical nursing practice for discharge planning for patients with heart failure, to improve the nursing quality, and ultimately to improve patient outcomes.

Key words: discharge planning; heart failure; evidence summery; evidence-based nursing