Discharge Planning
dDetailed, meticulous, and tailored to each patient
The multi-disciplinary team at the Respiratory Care Center work together with one goal in mind: discharging the child from the facility to live life as independently as possible.
But the care doesn’t stop when the child leaves the center.
The team ensures that the family has the equipment, training, and instructions it needs to care for the child.
“We make sure that the parents know how to give medications, how to measure them out, what times they’re due,” said Sara Robinson, RN.
Clinical staff from nursing, respiratory care, dietary, therapy, and pharmacy train the patients’ families or guardians on multiple aspects of care that they will need as the child transitions out of the center, including CPR, medication administration, wound care, use of oxygen, and nebulizer treatments. (Some patients are discharged but remain on some level of ventilator support; in those instances, additional training is required).
“We triple-check that everything gets done the correct way and that the parents or care givers are comfortable in taking care of the kids,” Robinson said.
The list of logistical details to be addressed is long.
Prior to discharge, social services staff have already arranged for home medical equipment and identified the family’s choice of pharmacy. If a patient needs to discharge to a lower level of care, staff will attempt to find a facility close to the family that can provide the level of care needed for the patient, including arranging transfer of the patient. The Rockcastle team also ensures the patient is scheduled for all follow-up appointments and provides the patient’s family with the dates, location, and time of appointments.
In addition, social services arrange home health care and connect patients to outpatient therapy or First Steps services (for children with any developmental delays), as needed. When families are unable to transport patients themselves, staff will connect them with available transportation.
And the list of details to attend to goes on. The discharge planning process is comprehensive, meticulous, and tailored to each patient – because continued recovery and progress depend on it.
