Use of the 'BRASS' to identify ICU patients who may have complex hospital discharge planning needs

Intensive care unit (ICU) transition programmes and discharge liaison nurse roles have emerged because the move from the ICU to the general wards has been found to be problematic for patients, their families and even health care professionals As these programmes are costly, it is essential that they are delivered to those for whom positive outcomes are most likely to be achieved. This paper reports on the use of the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS) to identify ICU patients who are at risk of complex hospital discharge needs Use of BRASS at admission was not particularly specific: that is, it was not able to identify consistently those at risk of prolonged ICU and hospital stay and ICU readmission. BRASS was fairly sensitive, correctly identifying over 95% of individuals who did not have a prolonged hospital stay BRASS is easy to use, but may be no better than severity of illness scoring systems in identifying ICU patients who potentially have complex hospital discharge planning needs; if used, it should not be completed on ICU admission alone.