Pediatric tracheotomy discharge teaching: a comprehensive checklist format

Discharge planning for a child undergoing a tracheotomy is a complex process. In 1989, a multidisciplinary team at Children's Hospital of Michigan developed specific discharge criteria in a checklist format to address all facets of home care for these patients. We present and discuss the checklist. A survey of user satisfaction with the checklist demonstrated that 80% of parents and care-givers felt well-prepared by this format at the time their child was discharged from the hospital with a new tracheotomy. We conclude that the protocol allows for comprehensive and efficient discharge teaching of parents and care-givers for children with new tracheotomies.