Perceptions and experience of emergency discharge as reported by nurses and medical officers

Emergency Department (ED) discharge involves the communication of healthcare information to optimise patient safety, selfmanagement, and understanding and compliance with ongoing treatment. However, little is known about the discharge practices or processesn undertaken by emergency clinicians. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the experience and perceptions of managing ED patient discharge by clinicians.

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in one district Tasmanian hospital. Data collection involved face to face interviews with emergency clinicians.

Twenty-one (36%) (12 medical officers, 6 registered nurses and 3 nurse practitioners) emergency clinicians agreed to participate in the study. From the data, five key themes emerged; (1) managing emergency department discharge; (2) Managing the workload of discharge; (3) Working as a team to support discharge; and (4) Building a safety net for the transition of care and (5) Improving emergency discharge.

Emergency discharge can be improved with the availability of a broader range of written patient discharge flyers, family and carer involvement, greater discharge role clarification, integration of electronic medical record and investigation ordering systems, defined nurse led discharge roles particularly after hours (after 4pm) to improve the safety of patient discharged.