Internet-based questionnaire survey on hospital discharge support and coordination duties

Abstract

The importance of hospital discharge support and coordination departments is increasing in recent years due to the shortening of hospital stay at acute care hospitals and other factors. As it is unclear to what extent the general public is aware of the presence of Medical Social Workers (MSW) and hospital discharge coordinating nurses that work in these departments to fulfill these duties, we conducted an Internet-based questionnaire survey. Respondents were 112 men and 188 women, of which 69% were in their 40s or 50s and 121 (40%) were the patient's son or daughter；the most common relationship to the patient. A total of 91% of patients had a hospital stay of two weeks or longer. The most common diseases were malignant tumor, stroke, and pneumonia. It was common among those with a hospital stay of 1-3 months and those with stroke or pneumonia to respond that their hospital stay was shorter than they hoped. In questions on concrete reasons for anxiety and issues, many had only a vague uncertainty. Relatively high anxiety issues were the course and prognosis of symptoms, self-management of daily life, post-discharge recovery, and the scheduled discharge date. The most reliable people to turn to for relieving anxiety or solving problems were the primary physician (30%), MSW (25%), or a family member (18%), and awareness of hospital discharge coordinating nurses tended to be lower than that of MSWs. Those who were highly satisfied with hospital discharge support and coordination also had a favorable impression of the hospital overall. In conclusion, the results of this survey suggest that awareness of hospital discharge coordinating nurses remains lower than that of MSW and that enhancing these services may lead to an increase in loyalty to the hospital.