THE QUALITY OF THE DISCHARGE PLANNING PROCESS - THE EFFECT OF A LIAISON NURSE

A project employing a liaison nurse has been started in the Dutch Zaan dam region. The liaison project win focus on the experience of problem s in preparing for hospital discharge and on continuity between hospit al and home care. This article discusses the effect of the liaison nur se on the quality of the discharge planning process. The investigation included a pre-test and a main test for which data were collected usi ng questionnaires. These were sent to patients who had received after- care on being discharged from hospital. To measure the quality of the discharge process and after-care continuity, use was made of explicit quality criteria, targeting discharge planning. The results show that discharge planning in hospitals has improved. No significant improveme nt was detected with respect to continuity of care. It may be conclude d that the discharge process requires more attention. The quality crit eria used here could function as points of departure. (C) 1997 Elsevie r Science Ltd.