Discharge Nurse/Team for Postpartum?

[RNLaborNurse4U]

I'm looking to gather information on the concept and use of a discharge nurse/team for postpartum, to help better facilitate the discharge of patients, which would also free up the postpartum nurses to care for new admissions and current patients.

I work in a unit that delivers over 4500 babies per year, so we're pretty high volume, and I'm looking for other units that also do high volume.

Ideas tossed around......two nurse team, or one nurse with a PCA (nurse assistant) to work 0700 to 1700 or so, only doing discharges from postpartum.

How has this been financially to the unit? Is it a pitch that can be made to include this in the budget, so that it would benefit the hospital? Better patient satisfaction scores? Better nursing satisfaction? How did you implement a discharge nurse/team?

[rnheart]

I think that is a great idea. and would definitely streamline the process and ensure that the patients are getting the information that they need.

good luck

[cherokeesummer]

That is a great idea, wish our unit would implement it!

[SmilingBluEyes]

Some of the larger volume units I know of have discharge classes actually, at various times, say 0900, 1300 and 1700, for these purposes. They do teaching, birth certificate paperwork and the like. They have snacks, like fruit, cheese and sandwich trays, bottled water and fruit juice and moms bring their babies. One of the lactation nurses also attends and observes breastfeeding and teaching bathing/diapering and troubleshoots things there, as well, if need be.

It works well in these places.

[gingerlily]

The same question came to me about two months ago. I work a postpartum unit, and the day nurses are just exhausted, and frustrated. I thought about a discharge nure/ team for postpartum, maybe two teams. The same questions you had, came to mind. As a matter of fact, this is how I came upon allnurses, because I tried googling my query, and stumbled upon the site. I am on ovid trying to find articles, because I wanted to find some info re discharge nurses for postpartum. So frustrating for the patients who are not going home; their care is 'interrupted' by an admission or discharge, and the discharged pt's stay so long before they can actually leave the floor. Sometimes there is a delay in the time that the RN sees the admission.