A Survey Study on Discharge Process of Critically Ill Patients: for Residents at a Tertiary Hospital in Korea

Abstract

Purpose: The number of severely ill patients requiring post-acute care has been increasing. Careful discharge planning minimizes unplanned emergency room visits and readmissions. This study aimed to survey the knowledge, experience, confidence, and obstacles faced by medical residents and fellows regarding the discharge process of severely ill patients.Methods: A survey consisting of 27 questions was sent electronically to residents and fellows who had experience in discharging severely ill patients from a tertiary hospital in Korea. The survey was conducted over a two-week period from September 29, 2022.Results: A total of 98 residents and fellows responded to the survey. Of these, 94% experienced difficulties related to the discharge process. The main obstacle was changes in the patient’s condition during discharge planning (92.3%). Although 95% of the respondents acknowledged the need for providing discharge information, only 53.1% of the residents and fellows practiced this. Only 42.9% of the respondents and 20.4% of residents and fellows explained local community healthcare and welfare resources to patients because of a lack of relevant knowledge (69.7%) and feeling no responsibility to explain (40.4%).Conclusion: This study revealed that residents and fellows experienced difficulties in devising discharge plans and providing post-acute care related information, despite recognizing the importance of these. These gaps result from the lack of a discharge planning curriculum regarding critically ill patients and appropriate training in the discharge process. This suggests that an integrated discharge planning curriculum should be developed and adopted in residents’ training programs for the differentiated treatment of critically ill patients.