Abstract

Introduction: The impact of discharge instructions on a patient’s experience is not fully understood. This research explored whether nurse- and physician-generated discharge instructions had a positive effect on patient perceptions regarding their discharge experience.

Methods: We compared Press Ganey discharge-related patient satisfaction scores for the year prior to and the year subsequent to implementing revised discharge instructions for all patients admitted to a 180-bed community-based hospital.

Results: Following the implementation of our revised discharge instructions, patient satisfaction significantly improved (84.7% vs 83%, P < .01). Patients responded that they felt ready for discharge (86.6% vs 84.9%, P = .01) and were satisfied with instructions for home care (87.8% vs 85.3%, P < .01).

Discussion: This study finds that a novel discharge instruction set produced by both the nursing and physician staff may improve patient perceptions with the discharge process.

Citation

Waniga HM, Gerke TA, Shoemaker A, Bourgoine D, Eamranond P. The impact of revised discharge instructions on patient satisfaction. J Patient Experience 2016; 3(3): 64--68.