Piloting discharge nurse on med/tele floor

[Inquiringminds]

My acute care hospital is considering implementing a "discharge nurse" role during pique time to expedite the discharge process. As of now the idea is one for each medical floor. I am looking for feedback from any who have worked with a hospital utilizing this role. How was it implemented; ie what hours/shift were worked, were there specific nurses who only worked in this position or did it rotate through all staff, how did this role impact the staffing budget and the patient to nurse ratio on the floor? Pros and cons? Also if anyone has any idea of impact on press ganey scores? And tips for outlining the duties of the discharge nurse.

Thank you!

[Momma1RN, MSN, RN, APRN]

Thank you for your helpful insight. Can you tell me a little about how your hospital is making discharges by 1100 possible? Our main obstacle to early discharges is having the doctors orders complete that early in the day.

They're trying to get the docs to flag patients for discharge if they anticipate discharge within 24 hours. Usually they are waiting on one more set of 0500 labs before signing off that they can go. Theoretically, these patients should be rounded on first and discharge orders should be entered to get the ball rolling. We use hospitalists btw and they're in at 7 am.