Discharge Planning In Nursing

There were areas where care could have been provided to meet the needs of the couple as a whole and the caregiver as the primary person taking care of the patient. The couple needed to be addressed about discharge planning from admission so that they would have more time to prepare for the transition. This would have provided them with more time to digest and accept their circumstances, allow time for all the questions to be thought of and asked, and to gather all the available resource and information to make an informed decision. The major area that was neglected was the need of the nurse to assess the caregiver’s psychological needs. There is guilt associated with the vulnerability of admitting you need help and that you are willing to
accept help and caregivers express a need for professionals to listen to their concerns and value their experience in caring for their loved one (Hvalvik 2011; Mamier 2014). The discharge planning should have included the nurse speaking to the caregiver and providing better information and address the psychosocial needs of the wife. A community resource available to the older adults is the option to live independently with some assistance. If Westover did not offer these services then Charles and Lee would have to choose a more restrictive environment of total care since they were not able to take care of themselves without any help. Another community resource is the many available places, such as the fitness center, that the older adults can go to within the retirement community or they still have the option to leave for the day for events like church. Technology could be used to support the older adult’s functioning and safety by making sure to use technology to pass along discharge instructions and all patient data to the long-term facility. Communication during transition is a major determinant of whether a patient will be re-hospitalized; poor-quality discharge communication is the primary barrier to safe and effective transitions (King 2013). Technology plays a major role in this communication between facilities. The new setting will enhance the health of the older adult because it provides the care that they need when they need it with the privacy and independence so the older adults don’t feel like a burden to others. This will enhance their health because they have available the fitness center, support groups, social activities, and help of the facility in IADLs and medication regimen to obtain optimal wellness functioning.