Communication between Nursing Homes and Hospitals With people living longer than they ever have before, a major issue has been health problems related to old age and the high death rate related to that. Now that healthcare is more focused on the care of the elderly; a problem is arising in the transferring of patients between different healthcare settings. Due to miscommunication between nurses in the hospital and nurses in the nursing home, the risks of the patient’s safety have become a growing concern. “In order to reduce the risk to patient safety, patient transfer requires collaboration between hospital staff and staff working in community settings” (Kirsebom, Wadensten, & Hedstrom, 2013). The care the patients receive in the nursing
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Information is transferred from the nursing home in the form of written notes and medication lists that are sent with the elderly patient when being admitted to the hospital. “The issues of interest in the study were: transfer and admission; discharge and return to nursing home; and improving collaboration and quality” (Kirsebom, Wadensten, & Hedstrom, 2013). Nurses in the nursing home setting find it sometimes hard to determine when a patient should be transferred to the hospital. A patient’s care plan should be kept up-to-date and followed. It is also important for family members to know and understand the care that’s being provided at the nursing home. The hospital RNs often find it difficult to decide when they have been fully treated for their medical condition, and can be discharged. Nursing home RNs often find a lack of thorough planning from the hospital. “The nursing home RNs reported that when patients return to the nursing home, there are frequently problems with the medicines that are sent with the patient from the hospital” (Kirsebom, Wadensten, & Hedstrom, 2013). The hospital RNs felt that the nursing home RNs were sending out patients that didn’t require hospitalization. Some suggestions that the hospital RNs had are, to have adequate nursing staff during evening, night, and weekend hours; train nurse’s aides to better …show more content…
It would be beneficial for nursing home RNs and hospitals RNs to better understand each other’s work environment and their day-to-day takes, thorough meetings and discussions. They should share the common goal to keep elderly patients in the nursing home as long as possible and should only be admitted to the hospital if there is a medical
Information is transferred from the nursing home in the form of written notes and medication lists that are sent with the elderly patient when being admitted to the hospital. “The issues of interest in the study were: transfer and admission; discharge and return to nursing home; and improving collaboration and quality” (Kirsebom, Wadensten, & Hedstrom, 2013). Nurses in the nursing home setting find it sometimes hard to determine when a patient should be transferred to the hospital. A patient’s care plan should be kept up-to-date and followed. It is also important for family members to know and understand the care that’s being provided at the nursing home. The hospital RNs often find it difficult to decide when they have been fully treated for their medical condition, and can be discharged. Nursing home RNs often find a lack of thorough planning from the hospital. “The nursing home RNs reported that when patients return to the nursing home, there are frequently problems with the medicines that are sent with the patient from the hospital” (Kirsebom, Wadensten, & Hedstrom, 2013). The hospital RNs felt that the nursing home RNs were sending out patients that didn’t require hospitalization. Some suggestions that the hospital RNs had are, to have adequate nursing staff during evening, night, and weekend hours; train nurse’s aides to better …show more content…
It would be beneficial for nursing home RNs and hospitals RNs to better understand each other’s work environment and their day-to-day takes, thorough meetings and discussions. They should share the common goal to keep elderly patients in the nursing home as long as possible and should only be admitted to the hospital if there is a medical