The Role of a Discharge Nurse in Expediting the Discharge Process

The discharge process on the Maternal Newborn Care (MNBC) unit at the University of Utah Hospital can take up to eight hours to unfold. Slow discharge processes frustrate patients and staff. To expedite the discharge process, a team of unit-based discharge nurses will be hired to manage the discharge process. Hiring a team of unit-based discharge nurses will expedite the discharge process by shortening patients' wait times to receive discharge teaching, bridging the communication gap between the patient and their healthcare team, and streamlining the discharge process.

The Role of a Discharge Nurse in Expediting the Discharge Process Kelcie Morgan College of Nursing, University of Utah BACKGROUND • The discharge process on the Maternal Newborn Care (MNBC) unit at the University of Utah hospital can take up to eight hours. • Slow discharge processes frustrate patients and staff. INTERVENTION • Hire a team of unit-based discharge nurses on MNBC. • Instigate a qualityimprovement project to implement and pilot this new role over 3 months. EVIDENCE • Mckell Gubler, a nurse manager at Huntsman Cancer Institute, piloted the role of a discharge nurse on her unit. • Gubler (2015) found the average number of discharges before 11 a.m. increased from 6% without a discharge nurse to 12% with a discharge nurse. PICOT QUESTION For the MNBC unit at the University of Utah Hospital, would hiring a team of unit-based discharge nurses to provide the discharge teaching to the patients with discharge orders from their physicians – as compared to the bedside floor nurses continuing to perform the discharge teaching – affect the amount of time it takes the discharge process to unfold over a three-month timeframe? POTENTIAL BARRIERS • Funding and communication. • Ways to overcome: • Conduct a training about the role of a discharge nurse. • Learn the influencing styles of those implementing the change. CONCLUSION Hiring a team of unit-based discharge nurses will expedite the discharge process by: 1) Shortening patients’ wait times to receive discharge teaching 2) Bridging the communication gap between the patient and their healthcare team 3) Streamlining the discharge process. SOURCES Gubler, M., Talamantes, C., Pratt, M., Born, C., Scaife, C., & Patterson, M. (2015). Patient education coordinator – successful implementation of a new job description [Poster]. Huntsman Cancer Institute University of Utah. https://sites.google.com/