Introduction
Communication is an important element that propels all operations in the hospital. Communication problems affect the smooth running of hospital activities. For instance, to discharge a patient, a nurse has to wait for orders from the physician. The physician may be present on shit; thus, the patient would have to wait for the doctor to get back. This notion creates congestion in hospitals, especially in the surgical department. The need to create planned schedules for the discharge of patients may create a solution to the congestion problem affecting hospitals. The discharge planning program will enhance communication in hospitals, thus creating a solution to the congestion problem.
Concept of the Discharge Planning Program
The discharge planning program is a catalog that contains the patient’s personal information, admission and discharge dates, the patient diagnosis, treatment schedules, and the recovery program. The program begins when the patient is still recovering at the hospital. It allows patients to know their discharge dates and the role that they will play in their recovery process after discharge (Flink & Eksted, 2017). In this case, the nurse or physician can explain to the patients their health status and role in the recovery process. This notion enhances communication between doctors and patients.
The discharge planning program creates early discharge planning and clear discharge criteria. In this case, the program’s catalog contains detailed information on the treatment process and the recommendations from the physician that the patient has to follow after discharge (Peate, 2020). Nurses can use the details in the program’s catalog to determine whether or not the patient is eligible for discharge if the physician is not available. The nurses can contact the physician responsible for the patient’s discharge if they are unsure of whether or not the patient is eligible for discharge.
Possible Impacts of the Discharge Planning Program
Nurses may not require discharge orders from physicians to release patients after completing hospital treatment. As a result, the program creates space for admission and reduces the readmission of discharged patients. The discharge planning program is designed to ensure that hospital functions such as discharge and admission of patients run effectively, regardless of the absence of specific physicians on shift. In this case, nurses can discharge patients without necessarily needing instructions from physicians. The program divides the hospital’s responsibilities across all medical practitioners as they are all responsible for the admission and discharge of patients.
One benefit of the discharge planning program is to ensure that patients understand their role in the recovery process (Sharma, 2019). The rate of readmission in hospitals reduces when patients understand their role in the treatment process. Hospitals using discharge planning programs may not experience a backlog of admission as patients switch to home-based care after their release from the hospital. This practice is essential for post-surgical patients who are prone to recovery setbacks. Home-based care reduces patient readmission as the treatment process continues at home under the guidance of caregivers.
Conclusion
The discharge planning program is essential in healthcare as it ensures continuity in the patient recovery process. It is also a way of enhancing communication between physicians, patients, and the community surrounding medical patients. The discharge planning program can solve the problem of hospital congestion and satisfy the health care needs of patients. Many hospitals in the United States suffer from the congestion of post-surgical patients. The discharge planning program can help in decongesting the hospitals as it is a model of communication that creates order in the hospital, thus enabling the smooth running of activities.
References
Peate, I. (2020). Pudner’s nursing the surgical patient e-book (4thed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.
Sharma, K. S. (2019). Lippincott manual of nursing practice. Wolters Kluwer
Flink, M., & Eksted, M. (2017). Planning for the discharge, not for patient Self-Management at Home – An Observational and interview study of hospital discharge. International journal of intergrated care, 17(6), 3-28. National Institutes of Health. Web.