Utskrivning från sjukhus ? En studie av utskrivningsprocessen vid en medicinklinik
Introduction: The interaction between different care facilities and professions is important in the care of older patients. Patients do not always get enough time to recover and often have a continued need for care. A discharge process of good structure in which the patient and relatives are participating and the continued need of care is assured is of importance in care of older patients.Objective: The overall purpose of this study is to compare the discharge process for patients over 75 years old admitted to a emergency medicine ward respective a emergency medicine ward with geriatric focus at a medicine clinic, to compare discharge process between these wards and evaluate the patients situation at home after discharge.Methods: A survey of medical records with a protocol and a telephone survey have been performed. Data was analyzed with descriptive and analytic statistic. Patients at the medical wards MAVA and care unit number 21/34, which are 75 years or older and are discharged to their own home, within the municipality of Göteborgs stad, in Sweden, are included in this study.Results: The discharge process differed between medicine wards with emergency medicine and geriatric focus. The result showed a shortage of participation among the patients and relatives in the discharge process and information concerning the discharge process. Documented discharge process was lacking in two thirds of the medical records at the emergency medicine ward.Discussion: Patients participation leads to an increased ability to manage after discharge from hospital. Relatives often have an important impact in the discharge process, are important regarding decision-making and constitute the main support after discharge. There is a need for an increased participation of patients and relatives in the discharge process. It is of great importance for quality of care in clinical work and research that data in the medical record is documented in a systematic and structured way.