The Discharge Lounge: A Patient Flow Process Solution.

BACKGROUND

Patient flow, from emergency department admission through to discharge, influences hospital overcrowding. We aimed to improve patient flow by increasing discharge lounge (DL) usage.

LOCAL PROBLEM

Patients need to receive a continuum of nursing care to encourage compliance with follow-up care after discharge from the acute care setting.

METHODS

Baseline data revealed inefficient use of the DL. We targeted the medical-surgical unit with the lowest DL use and trialed interventions over sequential Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles.

INTERVENTIONS

After surveying the nursing staff, we assessed the influence of 3 interventions on DL usage: educating staff on patient eligibility, engaging a recruitment scout, and displaying a visual cue notifying staff when a patient's discharge order was written.

RESULTS

The unit's average DL use increased from 18% to 36%, while hospital overcrowding and discharge turnaround time decreased.

CONCLUSION

The DL is an effective tool to improve patient flow and decrease hospital overcrowding.