The Structure of Discharge Planning Observed by Head Nurses in Acute-care Hospitals in Tohoku District

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the actual situation of discharge planning observed by head nurses in acute-care hospitals.

The subjects of this study were 10 head nurses in a prefecture. Each of the hospitals where the nurses work has more than 300 beds and the ratio of 10:1 official patient to nurse. The individual subject had been given a semi-structured interview, and content analysis of data was done. The following results were indexed according to 12 categories. The structure consisting of the above 12 categories revealed the properties of discharge planning in acute-care hospitals., which involved taking account of "Bed control", making "A plan for early discharge at the time of patient admission", obtaining "The cooperation of all concerned persons", "Promoting decision making by the patient/family", and considering "The need for patient/family supports on discharge", "The opportunity to discharge" and "Risks after discharge". In addition, the head nurses who are "Dependable", while giving the feedback of "The achievement of discharge planning support"indicated some ongoing issues such as "Incomplete discharge planning", "Difficulty in delegating to the staff"and "The future education of the staff".

This paper suggests that a new system needs to start, the system in which every individual involved share, patient information timely and cooperate well in discharge planning to bring patient and family satisfaction.