Discharge Question

[dragonfly954]

I've been in home health for a little over a month now,not having much experience prior to this.I was given a crash orientation and admitted 6 the first weekend.Everyone was really great at first and were willing to help me out each time I wandered into the office with questions.Now I am at the point of d/c for this group of six,and I can't seem to get answers to some general questions in the office.How do you know they are ready for D/C?The admitting Dx and what you find are almost always different.Some little problem creeps up and you end up seeing them for that instead.The more I look,the more things wrong I find!Just in general,how do you decide they are ready for D/C?

[renerian, BSN, RN]

There really are no hard and fast responses to that either. I guess I would look at why they are admitted, if they have reached their goals, can they care for themselves or can the caregiver you taught do that (ie/wound care or diabetic care and such)? Did you have new problems crop up? How are they going in general? What does the doc think? If they have therapy have they met their goals or are they at maximum rehab potential?

Are they on any new meds or treatment? Oh yes, if they are Medicare are they still homebound?

renerian