Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul/Sep;35(3):240-244.
doi: 10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000469.

The Discharge Lounge: A Patient Flow Process Solution

Rebecca Woods  1 , Rebecca Sandoval, Gregory Vermillion, Brenda Bates-Jackson, Audrey Nwankwo, Catherine P Canamar, Laura Sarff
Affiliations

The Discharge Lounge: A Patient Flow Process Solution

Rebecca Woods et al. J Nurs Care Qual. 2020 Jul/Sep.

Abstract

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Molla M, Warren D, Stewart SL, Stocking J, Johl H, Sinigayan V. A Lean Six Sigma quality improvement project improves timeliness of discharge from the hospital. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2018;44(7):401–412.
    1. Coffey CE Jr, Carter V, Wei E, et al. No more “code black”: intervention to improve inpatient flow at a large public hospital. Am J Med. 2018;131(4):371–376.
    1. Lees L. Exploring principles of best practice discharge to ensure patient involvement. Nurs Times. 2010;106(25):10–14.
    1. Hernandez N, John D, Mitchell J. A reimagined discharge lounge as a way to an efficient discharge process. BMJ Qual Improv Rep. 2014;31(1). doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204930.w2080.
    1. Sarff L, O'Brien R. Evidence-based quality improvement training programs: building staff capability and organizational capacity. J Nurs Care Qual. 2019. doi:10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000416.

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources