The Impact of Revised Discharge Instructions on Patient Satisfaction

INTRODUCTION: The impact of discharge instructions on a patient’s experience is not fully understood. This research explored whether nurse- and physician-generated discharge instructions had a positive effect on patient perceptions regarding their discharge experience. METHODS: We compared Press Ganey discharge-related patient satisfaction scores for the year prior to and the year subsequent to implementing revised discharge instructions for all patients admitted to a 180-bed community-based hospital. RESULTS: Following the implementation of our revised discharge instructions, patient satisfaction significantly improved (84.7% vs 83%, P < .01). Patients responded that they felt ready for discharge (86.6% vs 84.9%, P = .01) and were satisfied with instructions for home care (87.8% vs 85.3%, P < .01). DISCUSSION: This study finds that a novel discharge instruction set produced by both the nursing and physician staff may improve patient perceptions with the discharge process.