[Patients' evaluation of their own discharge]

This article illustrates how a group of patients assess their own discharge from a neuromedical department. The length of notice about discharge is connected with the patient's experience of orientation and planning. The longer the notice, the greater the satisfaction with the orientation given by the doctor about the disease, the therapeutic possibilities and the prognosis and with the nursing staff as regards intake of medicine. Although the patient clientele has serious social problems, only one fourth had had contact with a social worker in connection with hospitalization. Over one third of the patients found that the first weeks after discharge constituted the most difficult period during the entire course of the disease and this may be connected with the fact that many of them experienced discharge as being badly planned. This shows that discharge is a stressing event in the course of an illness and that it requires more attention than it has hitherto received.