Aim: To explore community health nurses' opinions on and attitudes toward a nursing discharge summary (NDS) as a means of improving their collaboration with nurses working in secondary and tertiary healthcare. Subjects and methods: A qualitative study using focus groups was performed from January to March 2015. The study sample included 27 community health nurses working at „Zagreb Center“ and „Zagreb West“ Health Centers. The nurses were divided into four focus groups, which were guided by a moderator and directly observed by the researcher. The discussions during the focus groups were recorded and transcribed. A qualitative data analysis based on an established theory was performed. Four main topics and four explanatory models were identified including the encounter with NDS's, characteristics of the existing NDS's, elements of collaboration between community health nurses and hospital nurses via the existing NDS's, and recommendations for NDS improvement. Results: The majority of community health nurses were familiar with NDS's; however, generating NDS's was not part of the routine nursing work. NDS's were written mostly for particular patient groups discharged from particular healthcare institutions within a separate project. Occasionally, NDS's were handwritten, illegible, and scanty on details, which were sometimes also partly incorrect. Some of NDS's never reached community health nurses or were delivered only after the patient care had already been organized, mostly because NDS's were not sent from hospitals in time, or were retained in patient files at their family physician's office, or were lost by the patients. All community health nurses emphasized the need for NDS and the positive role that NDS plays in the organization of patient's care after hospital discharge as an important aid in planning the types of procedures and ensuring the continuity of care. In these cases, an NDS was an indicator of good nursing practice. Conclusion: NDS's were indicated to play an important role in organizing patient's care after discharge, especially in planning the types of procedures and ensuring the continuity of patient's care. Routine NDS writing for each patient with an indication for continued care after discharge may contribute to increased level of professionalism in nursing by highlighting the importance and indispensability of nurses and the essential role they play in rational planning and organization of patient's care and, consequently, in ensuring the delivery of rational, continued, holistic and quality care to each individual patient.