An education technique for discharge planning screening by nursing students: A descriptive study using a paper patient

Abstract

Objective: To clarify the relationships between items necessary for screening, nursing students extracted information from a description of a paper patient and considered means of developing assessment ability based on this information.

Methods: Design: Descriptive study. Setting: A Japanese nursing college. Participants: One hundred twenty-five sophomore students. Methods: Students performed an extraction of the information necessary for the discharge of a paper patient. We divided students’ responses into two groups, those with and without extraction of information related to items of a discharge planning screening tool, and analyzed the relationships between items.

Results: “Movement” was associated with four items including “people living together”, and “toileting” was associated with two items including “meal and water management”. “People living together” was associated with five items including “family care”, and “hope for a particular discharge destination” was associated with four items including “hope for a discharge plan” and “long-term care insurance”. “Rehabilitation” was associated with “body cleansing”. “Medication management” was not associated with any items, and “age” was not extracted.

Conclusions: Students required guidance in connecting patient and family information and expanding their knowledge to include family information, family care status, support systems, patients’ and family members’ intentions regarding life following discharge, and use of social resources. Patients should be encouraged to consider the care required to maintain health and activities of daily living following discharge and advised regarding postdischarge environmental changes and the features of old age. Therefore, teachers should include postdischarge environmental changes and the characteristics of old age in training content.