DISCHARGE PLANNING 8 Case Report Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note Introduction

Running head: DISCHARGE PLANNING
Case report
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DISCHARGE PLANNING
Introduction- Discharge planning refers to a procedure that helps in bringing about
an improvement in healthcare service coordination, following discharge of a patient from a
hospital. It takes into account the needs of the patient, in the community in which he/she
resides (Gonçalves‐Bradley et al. 2016). The primary purpose of discharge planning is
ensuring presence of continuity in the care quality between the community and the hospital.
In other words, the objective of discharge planning is reduction of the length of
hospitalization and readmissions to hospital, besides enhancing coordination of care services
(Cameron 2018). The assignment will elaborate on the discharge plan of Joseph and
formulate a culturally safe care and formulate an action plan for enhancing his optimal health
and wellbeing.
Considering patient information- Joseph is a 55 year old man of Australian descent
who had been admitted to the Hospital’s emergency department following carbon monoxide
poisoning due to a failed suicidal attempt. Joseph used for care for his wife Sophia (who has
been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, prior to his admission. He has been found to be
medically stable and is soon to be discharged from the hospital.
Collecting cues- Joseph had migrated to Australia along with his wife Sophia 35
years ago. He usually described his life as perfect and well supported his family. Upon
arriving in Australia, Joseph and Sophia became parents to a boy, and were able to
successfully establish their business as well. However, some of the most significant events
that resulted in the suicidal attempt by Joseph included loss of contact with their son Robert,
following his relocation to the United States for pursuing higher education, huge financial
loss, and stress in providing care to Sophia and her progressing dementia. It was perceived by
Joseph that caring for Sophia was his utmost responsibility but he was unable to do so, owing
to the progressing old age and lack of support from his child. Despite repeated attempts by
their son in admitting Joseph and Sophia to respite care services that deliver short term care

2DISCHARGE PLANNING
for extremely sick or old people, they expressed disapproval at getting admitted to such
services.
Gathering information- Some of the most essential nursing assessments that must be
conducted in Joseph in order to assess is overall health status encompass cultural, physical,
spiritual, family, and mental health. Taking into account family health will also help in
unravelling the different beliefs and values that are shared by all family members (Giger
2016). This can be facilitated by promoting a discussion with Sophia, and their son, while
Joseph provides his consent for the same. Nursing assessment is not any specific test but
comprises of a collection of information regarding the psychological, sociological,
physiological, and spiritual status of a particular person. Hence, conducting a nursing
assessment that would include his family members would necessarily form the first step of
information gathering. The nursing assessment for also vital to discharge planning, due to the
fact that discharging a patient from a healthcare setting is controlled by different social,
external, and cultural issues that might create an impact on the overall health and quality of
well being of the service user (Zhu et al. 2015). The first and foremost step during discharge
planning would be to establish a contact with the general practitioners who had evaluated
Joseph.
Processing information- Suicidal thoughts refer to having or thinking about unusual
preoccupations, related to suicide, and they range from extensive to fleeting thoughts with
detailed planning, incomplete attempts, and role playing (Kleiman et al. 2017). Research
evidences have elaborated on the fact that there are a range of negative life events of sudden
life changeover that are responsible for bringing about a persistent state of distress and agony
in the life of the sufferers, which in turn promotes them to attempt suicide (Blalock, Young
and Kleiman 2015). Some of the major factors that might have played an essential role in the