Continuity of care maintained during hospital
discharge transitions
Discharge planning was a major focus from the
moment patients were admitted. An important part of
the nurses’ daily work was to assure that care plans
started in the hospital could continue post discharge
in home care or nursing home. Therefore the permanent
designated nurses frequently initiated home care
conferences with interdisciplinary colleagues, patients
and families, and home care providers to make decisions
about the patient’s future care and needed home
alterations before discharge. Additionally the permanent
designated nurses distributed care plans to home
care and nursing homes so the planned rehabilitation
processes could be continued. Throughout the
discharge process the PDN also involved the patient’s
relatives and/or family members and encouraged them
to continue the patient’s rehabilitation activities.
Unfortunately careful discharge planning was not
always followed, as independent home care providers
decided whether or not to follow the hospital’s recommendations
once the patient was in their care. This
caused frustration among the nurses: