Validation of the index for the core competence of nurses leading discharge planning for older patients in China

Objective:With the continuous advancement of aging in China,the number of older inpatients has increased sharply.Older patients have a high demand for planning their discharge services.Nurses serve as the leader of discharge planning for patients;there is a lack of reliable evaluation tool to evaluate the core competitiveness of nurses who implement discharge planning for older patients in China.The purpose of this study was to validate the index for the core competence of nurses who lead discharge planning for older patients developed by a project team through the Delphi method in the early stage.Methods:A cross-sectional questionnaire survey with 3-stage stratified sampling was used to select 1075 nurses from 17 public general hospitals in Ningxia,China.Results:The index consists of 4 first-level indicators,13 second-level indicators,and 57 third-level indicators.The results show that 57 third-level indicators had good discrimination.With exploratory factor analysis(EFA),4 common factors that explained 72.79%of the total variance were extracted.The Cronbach's a was 0.98,and the retest reliability within a 14-d interval was 0.86.The confirmatory factor analysis(CFA)results show that the fit of the index structure was good.The criterion validity was 0.73.Conclusions:The index presented excellent psychometric proper ties and can be used to measure the core competence of nurses in implementing discharge planning for older patients in China.

Discharge planning for children with ventricular septal defect and pulmonary arterial hypertension in China

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of discharge planning on maternal caring knowledge,maternal caring behavior,maternal discharge readiness and the rehospitalization of children with ventricular septal defect and pulmonary arterial hypertension(VSD-PAH).Background:Children with congenital heart disease(CHD)with pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH)have more complications after surgery than those without PAH.Discharge planning is an effective strategy to help children leave the hospital safely,and receive appropriate care after discharge.Methods:A quasi-experimental design was used.Sixty children and their mothers were recruited and divided into two groups:the control group received conventional care,the intervention group received both conventional care and additional discharge planning care.Results:(1)After admission,maternal caring knowledge between the two groups was similar.(2)At discharge,maternal discharge readiness,maternal caring knowledge and maternal caring behavior in the intervention group was significantly higher compared to the control group(t=3.35,p=0.001;F=84.74,p<0.001;F=23.82,p<0.001).This difference persisted after discharge,and was evident at one month and three months after discharge.(3)However,no significant difference in the readmission rate of children after discharge was evident between the two groups.Conclusions:Discharge planning improves the maternal discharge readiness,maternal caring knowledge and maternal caring behaviors.However,this planning did not reduce the readmission rate of children with CHD-PAH.

A Spider in a Broken Web:Nurses’Views on Discharge Planning for Older Patients after Hip Fracture Surgery Who Live in their Own Homes in Rural Areas

Introduction: The in-hospital rehabilitation of patients who have undergone surgery for hip fracture requires a team-based effort, in which nurses play an all-embracing role throughout the patients’ hospital stays. Although discharge planning has been widely studied, little is known about discharge planning from hospitals to homes in rural settings. Aim: To describe nurses’ views on discharge planning for older patients after hip fracture surgery who live in their own homes in rural areas. Methods: A qualitative method was used. Four focus group interviews were conducted with 18 nurses who work at an orthopaedic clinic. The interview texts were analysed with qualitative content analysis. Findings: Nurses expressed that patients needed support from healthcare personnel as well as relatives in order to prepare for life at home. They also expressed that patients were not supported in all aspects of discharge planning because they faced difficulties in having their voices heard. Nurses described that many of those aspects were beyond their own control, which had left them with little to non-ability to influence discharge planning. Findings additionally indicate that discharge planning seems not affected by occurring in rural settings. Conclusions: Although discharge planning is intended to meet the unique wishes and needs of each patient given the realities of existing resources, nurses’ responsibilities in discharge planning are unclear. This study shows an organisation in which healthcare personnel continue to make decisions for patients. Significance for nurses to perform a discharge planning that support patients’ participation seems to be a communication based on shared understanding.

Effect of hospital discharge plan for children with type 1 diabetes on discharge readiness,discharge education quality,and blood glucose control

BACKGROUND Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood.The number of type 1 diabetes patients in China still ranks fourth in the world.Therefore,children with type 1 diabetes in China are a group that needs attention.The management of type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM)involves many aspects of daily life.It is extremely challenging for children and their families.T1DM children have complex medical care needs.Despite the continuous development of therapeutic medicine and treatment technologies,blood glucose control in children with T1DM is still not ideal.They and their parents need to acquire more knowledge and skills before being discharged.AIM To explore the influence of hospital discharge plan based on parental care needs of children with T1DM on discharge readiness,quality of discharge education and blood glucose control level.METHODS In total,102 parents of children with type 1 diabetes were divided into control group and intervention group according to admission time.Fifty cases from February to June 2019 were selected as the control group,and 52 cases from July to October 2019 were selected as the intervention group to implement the discharge plan.The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale,Hospital Discharged Education Quality Scale and children's blood glucose metabolism indicators were used to compare the differences in discharge preparation,discharge education quality and blood glucose control between the two groups of children and their parents.RESULTS On the day of discharge,the two groups of children had the following scores of readiness for discharge:The intervention group score was 225.34±32.47,and the control group score was 208.68±29.31.The P value was 0.007,and the difference was statistically significant.The discharge education quality scores were as follows:The intervention group score was 135.11±19.86,the control group score was 124.13±15.56,the P value was 0.002 and the difference was statistically significant.Three months after discharge,the blood glucose metabolism indicator showed that the glycosylated hemoglobin value of the two groups was(7.45%±1.04%),and that of the control group was(8.04%±1.27%),P=0.012.Therefore,the improvement of parents'readiness for discharge,quality of discharge education and blood glucose metabolism indicators(glycosylated hemoglobin,fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose)in the intervention group were better than those in the control group(P<0.05),and the difference was statistically significant.CONCLUSION The discharge plan for children with T1DM can help the children and their families realize the transition from hospital care to home self-management and improve the parents'readiness for discharge,thereby improving children’s blood glucose control levels.

A Review of readiness for hospital discharge of patients after cardiac surgery

Background Severe cardiac surgery trauma can lead to cardiopulmonary function injury,resulting in prolonged postoperative bed occupancy and slowed recovery which in turn can cause a range of complications.Consequently,preparation for discharge is a critical aspect of patient recovery,thereby necessitating the utmost attention to discharge management.The objective of this paper was to review the concept of discharge readiness for patients after cardiac surgery,along with the current situation,evaluation tools,existing problems,and improvement strategies.The aim is to gain an understanding of the research progress made in this area and provide suggestions for enhancing the discharge readiness of patients.This study intended to offer theoretical guidance for further research on improving the discharge readiness of patients following cardiac surgery.