Forms guide individualized discharge instruction
Categories prompt correct response in all areas
How are case managers handling the task of individualizing discharge instructions for each patient and maintaining a record of the individualized written instructions for the patient record in compliance with standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations?
At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, standardized discharge forms are usually used, with the forms individualized to each patient by writing the information in each table. For example, the instructions for a teenager going home on a clear liquid diet following surgery are different from a child with asthma going home on a regular diet.
The nurse writes in the discharge instructions per physician order. The family and nurse sign the form; one copy goes to the family, while the second is placed in the medical record.
In addition to the general discharge form, the health care system has created discharge teaching forms specific to certain patient populations, such as oncology. The template has information that is specific to that patient group, says Kathy Ordelt, RN, patient & family education coordinator at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
For example, the form might have information that instructs parents to call their child’s physician if the child’s temperature reaches 101 degrees. These forms also have boxes for individualized information. "The preprinted forms are for staff convenience to make it easier to capture all the information so it doesn’t have to be written every single time," explains Ordelt.
No matter where the patient enters the health care system, including the emergency department, primary care setting, or inpatient setting, there is a discharge record that can be individualized. "They are formatted in a similar fashion, but they all contain different content that makes it appropriate for that clinical practice setting," says Ordelt.
For more information on individualized discharge instructions, contact Kathy Ordelt, RN, patient & family education coordinator, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1001 Johnson Ferry Road N.E., Atlanta, GA 30342. Telephone: (404) 929-8641. Fax: (404) 929-8690. E-mail: [email protected].
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