Discharge Planning: Professional Perspectives versus Organizational Effects

Abstract

The rise in legitimacy and visibility of hospital discharge planning has been accompanied by competition between social work and nursing over control of this function. The author used a survey of 229 California hospitals to test the hypothesis that the discharge planning process is the same regardless of the discipline or department in which it is located. The only significant difference among the social work, nursing, and administrative departments was in the type of staff used. Social work departments were more likely to have both a social worker and a nurse on the discharge planning staff and on the discharge planning team. The needs of the organization, rather than professional perspectives, drove discharge planning. More collaborative bonds between social work and nursing could propel system innovation and change.