PATIENT EDUCATION: HOW TO DISCHARGE A PATIENT IN THE AM

Abstract

Whatever the reasons for postponing discharge planning, the consequences can be overwhelming for the patient and detrimental to the hospital. At the University of California San Diego Medical Center, the director of the patient education department and I gathered fiscal and creative resources to develop a new approach to solving the problem. We designed the Discharge Planning Education Package, including a handbook containing everything you need to know about coordinating a patient's discharge and follow-up care, plus posters, tear-off pads, and two videotapes. The tapes, "The Surprise Discharge" and "Discharge in the AM," offer a humorous look at discharge-planning gone awry. In inservice sessions, the laughter generated by the tapes creates a receptiveness to using the entire discharge planning package. The package has been well received at UCSD and at several other healthcare institutions in other parts of the country. Since we've been using the Discharge Planning Education Package at UCSD, we find that nurses have become more involved in coordinating patients' discharges. Attendance at weekly dischargeplanning meetings is at an all-time high. Physicians and other members of the team have begun planning alternate care arrangements long before discharge. Nurses are documenting realistic discharge criteria on admission. And our quality-assurance scores for discharge-planning activities are higher than ever. O