PEDIATRIC TRACHEOTOMY DISCHARGE TEACHING - A COMPREHENSIVE CHECKLIST FORMAT

Discharge planning for a child undergoing a tracheotomy is a complex p rocess. in 1989, a multidisciplinary team at Children's Hospital of Mi chigan developed specific discharge criteria in a checklist format to address all facets of home care for these patients. We present and dis cuss the checklist. A survey of user satisfaction with the checklist d emonstrated that 80% of parents and care-givers felt well-prepared by this format at the time their child was discharged from the hospital w ith a new tracheotomy. We conclude that the protocol allows for compre hensive and efficient discharge teaching of parents and care-givers fo r children with new tracheotomies.