Developing discharge practice through education

Summary

In England (UK) the discharge of patients from hospital is a source of constant scrutiny from primary care trusts in order to reduce the patient length of stay in Hospital. To support nurses in practice a part time, post registration discharge practice education module was developed entitled Facilitating Timely Patient Discharge. It was the first of its kind to be accredited at degree level (level 6) during 2006.

University evaluation of the module involved an academic assignment based on a 3000 word case study. Projects in practice were integrated to enable the students to apply theories to clinical practice. This aspect was driven by an organisational impetus to demonstrate learning back in practice to the benefit of Heart of England Foundation Trust (HEFT). Students self assessed their individual ability pre and post the discharge module using questionnaires citing 17 areas of discharge practice analysing knowledge and ability. They demonstrated an increase in knowledge and ability in key areas such as; ‘understanding complex discharge’ and ‘teaching discharge practice to peers’. Although these were not formally included in the outcomes or evaluations they may inform future module development and design of delivery. The questionnaires were designed and developed with support for projects in practice from the Foundation of Nursing Studies in London.

Introduction

This article discusses the development of a part time, post registration discharge practice education module including its content, delivery and outcomes. The module is entitled, Facilitating Timely Patient Discharge.

This title was devised to align with the national multi-professional toolkit (Department of Health, DH, 2004b) and to endorse the proactive multi-professional concept of discharge practice. It was aimed at a range of practitioners working in health and social care settings, detracting from an approach focussed solely on ‘nursing’ or ‘medicine’ (Gair and Hartery, 2001, Opic, 1997).

The module was validated by the Birmingham City University in the UK and upon successful completion 12 degree level university academic transferrable credits are awarded. This module can be selected on the Dimensions in Healthcare pathway – a new and flexible approach to learning beyond registration, linked to the National Health Service (NHS) Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF), used to design job descriptions nationally, initiated by the Department of Health (Department of Health, 2004a, Department of Health, 2004b). The KSF framework describes the knowledge and skills required for different pay banding for registered staff from band 5 (junior posts) to Band 8 (senior posts).