2021 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 46-54
The purpose of this study was to develop a discharge support planning sheet for patients who have been admitted to the emergency ward and their families. The proposed discharge planning sheet would assist in the extraction and structuring of items that pertain to risks that would hinder discharge, along with items that can be implemented across multiple disciplines. We further clarified the details of discharge support using a time axis so as to enable early responses to risks that might potentially impede discharge. These risks are: "a decline in ADLs after discharge compared to before hospitalization," "intermittent delirium and cognitive decline," "a lack of understanding of the changing needs of patients and families regarding discharge," "a patient's need for new social resources," and "restrictions imposed by the transfer destination due to medical classification." We also identified discharge support items that can be implemented by a multidisciplinary team: "information collection and sharing across multiple disciplines"; "sharing discharge goals with patients and families, and among multiple disciplines"; and "addressing the discharge needs of patients and families across multiple disciplines." The components of the discharge support planning sheet clarified the risk of discharge difficulties and multidisciplinary support items on a time axis (at admission, on the third day after admission, and during the first week). The result was the development of a tool that allows patient- and family-centered discharge support that can be practiced without influence from the environment of the emergency ward or the competence of attending nurses. In addition, it is thought that collaboration among multiple disciplines in the early stages of hospitalization can reduce the length of hospitalization and promote functional differentiation of hospital beds, such as efficient use of hospital beds.
