Discharge Planning - Evidence Update
November 2011
Welcome to the November bulletin on Discharge Planning being produced by the HEFT Library Services.
This bulletin is produced to support VITAL for Nurses core skills programme developed in the Trust. This
issue will highlight evidence published in the previous eight weeks. Full text articles can be accessed with
your HEFT Athens ID.
Admission prevention
Nothing to report.
Bed management
Involuntary admissions on rise yet fewer beds are available
Holmstrom, R
Mental Health Practice. September; 15(1) p.6-7
This article reports on findings of research highlighting an increase in involuntary admissions to mental health
wards while the number of beds in England has declined. Possible reasons for the increase are discussed and
a service user's perspective is included.
Available in fulltext at EBSCO Host
Capacity planning
Nothing to report.
Discharge coordination
Nothing to report.
Discharge process
Barriers to effective discharge planning.
Eliza Wong, et al.
BMC Health Services Research. September; 11(242)
The aims of this present study were to explore the perceived quality of current hospital discharge from the
perspective of health service providers and to identify barriers to effective discharge planning in Hong Kong.
Available in fulltext at BioMed Central
Using mobile phone technology to reinforce discharge instructions.
Holt, J, Flint, E, Bowers, M
Am J Nursing. August; 111(8) p.47-51
Use of mobile phones with audio and image capacity to help patients adhere to self-care instructions following
discharge. A case report is presented of wound care and dressings change instructions given by photographs
and voice memo on a patient's phone before discharge. The benefits for patient compliance of taking preferred
learning styles into account are discussed.
Using pictographs in discharge instructions for older adults with low-literacy
skills.
Choi, Jeungok
Journal of Clinical Nursing. November; 20(21-22) p. 2984-2996
The aim of this study was to evaluate current visual aids used in health education; to explore evidence regarding
the use of pictographs (simple line drawings showing explicit health care actions); and to provide suggestions
for uses of pictographs in discharge instructions for older adults with low-literacy skills.
Methods of producing a discharge summary: Handwritten vs. electronic
documentation.
Pocklington C, Al-Dhahir L.
British Journal of Medical Practitioners. September; 4(3) p. a432
It is a compulsory requirement that a hospital produces a discharge summary. This is often the only
documentation a GP receives in relation to a recent admission. Traditionally the discharge summary is hand-
written and commonly known as the TTA ('to take away'). Recently the EDS (electronic discharge summary) has
been introduced. This audit provides a comparison of the TTA and EDS.
Education and Practice
Nothing to report.
Estimating dates for discharge
Packed and ready to go.
Lees,L
Nursing Standard. Oct 12-Oct 18; 26(6) p. 18-19
In this article Nurse Liz Lees explains the fundamentals for discharging patients successfully at the right time.
Available in fulltext via Proquest (Legacy Platform)
Effective discharge planning -- timely assignment of an estimated date of
discharge.
Lixin Ou, Chen et al
Australian Health Review. August; 35(3) p. 357-363
The objective of this study was to examine the implementation of estimated date of discharge (EDD) for planned
admissions and admissions via the emergency department, to assess the variance between EDD and the actual
date of discharge (ADD), and to explore the determinants of delayed discharge in a tertiary referral centre,
Sydney, Australia.
Available in fulltext at ProQuest (Legacy Platform)
Multidisciplinary team discharges
The Going Home Initiative: Getting Critical Care Patients Home With Hospice.
Lusardi, Paula et al
Critical Care Nurse. October; 31(5) p. 46-57
With little guidance from the literature, the palliative care committee of an intensive care unit developed guidelines
to
