Cooperation with community healthcare workers was seen least frequently. The most common area of ward nursing practice focusing on community living was educating patients and their families. Only 45.5% of the ward nurses recognized that discharge planning should commence on admission. Their mean length of nursing experience was 14.2 ± 9.8 years. Results: Respondents included 167 female and 11 male nurses, with 34.8% in their 40s. We used a t-test to analyse differences in ward nursing practices focusing on community living by nurses’ characteristics, experience in providing home-based care, discharge planning approaches, and understanding of patient situations after discharge, and a stepwise multi-regression analysis with ward nursing practices focusing on community living as the dependent variable.
Methods: The study included 178 ward nurses in three hospitals. Greater incorporation of discharge planning activities into nurses' daily practice may also occur if nurses are involved in the development and implementation of the discharge processes and then provided with education and regular feedback on monthly audit results.īackground: It is not clear which personal factors and experiences affect ward nurses’ practice in supporting patients to return home after discharge.Īims: To explore the practices among ward nurses that help them support patients to continue to live independently in the community and the influence on these of personal experience of providing home care, approaches to discharge planning, and understanding about patients after discharge. Before a systematic approach to discharge planning can be implemented, a greater understanding of nurses' discharge planning practice in acute care wards is required. Relevance to clinical practiceCompletion of discharge planning is important for the safe transition of patients from one care setting to the next. Nurses require additional encouragement and support in complying with discharge planning policies, and discharge planning policies should be adapted to better handle unpredictable illness trajectories. Further contradictions occurred in that nurses understood the importance of discharge planning, yet did not comply with discharge planning policies. The most common barriers to discharge planning identified were lack of time and patient factors.
ResultsAdherence to discharge planning policy is low (23%), despite a general awareness of the reduced quality of patient outcomes that may result. Nurses (n=64) working in acute wards undertook a self-report survey of discharge planning understanding, adherence and barriers. Backgroundĭischarge planning commenced at admission by nurses plays a key role in improving patient outcomes,but policies in place to maintain effective discharge planning are often not followed by nurses. Aims and objectivesTo examine nurses' discharge planning understanding, adherence and barriers.
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