How to prepare families for discharge in the limited time available.

To prepare families for discharge in the limited time available, nurses must recognize that patient and family education is not a discrete task, separate from other nursing work. Every health care provider teaches in every interaction with the learner. Every casual conversation with the learner incorporates assessment, sharing of information, evaluation of understanding, or a combination of these. When nurses and learners recognize this, the entire admission can be used to prepare for discharge. To best use teaching time, health care providers need to take four actions: (a) focus on the goals of education, (b) remain aware that they are always teaching, (c) individualize teaching to use time most effectively and efficiently, and (d) collaborate with the other members of the health care team to meet discharge teaching objectives.