Early Discharge Planning

Paper Summary:

Discharge planning is a process of assessing a hospital patient's need for care or other services once he or she is discharged from the hospital. The paper shows that the trend toward early discharge of newborns and their mothers grew at such a rate and was accompanied by such serious consequences for some, that the American Congress took note, passing the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection' Act of 1996 which allows mothers the option of requesting a longer stay if she feels she and/or her child require it. Despite this act, most women elect the shorter hospital stay. The paper shows that the problem that needs to be addressed, however, is to determine, as precisely as possible, what constitutes effective early discharge planning for newborns and their mothers. The paper delineates effective practices and then applies the obtained information to midwifery concerns and practice.

From the Paper:

"One of the more interesting findings regarding early discharge planning is that there are some indications that certain factors allow for earlier release than others, and one of these is delivery by a midwife. In this regard, Margolis, Kotelchuck and Chang (1997) examined if mothers discharged from the hospital and one night's stay differed in any ways from mothers discharged after two or three nights stay. Specifically, it was found that mothers whose babies were delivered by midwives were more fit for early discharge than mothers whose babies were not delivered by midwives."

More papers on Early Discharge Planning:

• Analytical Essay # 57813 : "Financial Planning for Retirement"
• Comparison Essay # 58627 : "Discharge after Intensive Care (ICU)"
• Analytical Essay # 70397 : "Case Management in Nursing"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: