The Safe Discharge of Patients

Question: Write an essay on the Safe Discharge of Patients? Answer: L M Safe discharge 1A Description The central focus of the current essay would be to ensure the safe discharge of patients who want to reside in their homes. It would reflect on a plethora of professional issues which have been encountered by me during my practice at the clinic and also the management placement. The easy seeks to critically appraise the theories that underpin leadership and management within healthcare and additionally outlines the various qualities and skills required to lead and manage individuals and the its implications for the group dynamics of various professional teams in this regard. Findings During my practice, I once encountered a patient who was declared medically fit to go home, but still i did not consider it safe to send her home as I thought she would be unable to perform her Daily Living Activities (DLA). Hence as part of my responsibility in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2015), I raised the concern about her Daily Living Activities (DLA) and hence the case was referred to Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT). The MDT arranged an effective package of care (Department of Health 2010) given by student nurses under the supervision of their respective mentors (NMC 2007, Lees 2004). In this case, I had the opportunity to act as an informal leader (Royal College of Nursing 2002). Evaluation The patient was discharged and reached home safely. As a near qualified student nurse, I lead this discharge process (while adhering to the trust discharge policy) under the vigil supervision of my mentor who was working with MDT (DH 2010). The member of MDT expected the safe discharge of the patient which is imperative since safety constitutes a key component of Maslows hierarchy of needs (Runyan 2008). Analyse Transformation theory is the leadership theory that supports my discharge plan. It was Suliman (2009) who proved that transformation theory is relatively more popular and successful in the healthcare sector. Transformation leaders tend to concentrate on the culture and learning experiences of the individuals and advocate shared responsibilities (Avolio and Bass 2001; Smith 2011). Avolio and Bass (2001) state that transformational leaders tend to raise the level of moral maturity of their followers. As per Stanley (2006), it is imperative that clinical leaders need to be equipped with clinical competence along with skills such as knowledge, empowerment, decision-making and effective communication. During my experience, when I was require to liaison with MDT, I acted as an active participant at the MDT meeting so as to discuss and gather all requisite information specific to each DLA of patient so as to determine how to get the patient discharged to home in a safe and secure manner. As per Miers and Pollard (2010), one of the most vital aspects of safe discharge planning is communication and hence in case of ineffective communication discharge may be delayed. Hence it can be concluded that effective leadership when involved in multidisciplinary working results in better outcome. However this activity helped me understand self awareness is a very critical part of leadership. Hence effective communication and self-awareness are the core skills which are required for leadership. References: Avolio B J and Bass B M (2001) Developing Potential Across A Full Range of Leadership: Cases on Transactional and Transformational LeadershipTaylor Francis (online) last accessed on 21/05 2015 at https://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=232425 Department of Health (2010) Ready to go? Planning the discharge and the transfer of patients from hospitals and intermediate care (online) last accessed on 02/05/2015 at https://www.thinklocalactpersonal.org.uk/_library/Resources/Personalisation/EastMidlands/PandEI/Ready_to_Go_-_Hospital_Discharge_Planning.pdf Lees L (2004) Making Nurses-Led discharge work to improve patient care Nursing Times (online) last accessed on 02/05/2015 at https://www.nursingtimes.net/Journals/2013/02/15/m/s/r/040914Making-nurse-led-discharge-work-to-improve-patient-care.pdf Miere and Pollard (2010) Care in acute settings in Pollard (ed) Understanding Interprofessional Working in Health and Social Care Palgrave Macmillan National Health Service Institute for Innovation and improvement (2013) Qualty and Service Improvement Tools; Discharge Planning (online) last accessed on 02/05/ 2015 at https://www.institute.nhs.uk/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/quality_and_service_improvement_tools/discharge_planning.html Nursing and Midwifery Council (2015) The code of conduct NMC Nursing and Midwifery Council (2007) Introduction of Essential Skills Clusters for Pre-registration Nursing programmes NMC Royal College of Nursing (2002) Helping students get the best from their practice placements (online)last accessed on 20/05/2015 at https://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.50823!/fileManager/RCNHelpingStudentsgettheBestfromtheirPracticePlacements.pdf Runyan W M (2008) Running head: Human needs; Maslows Theory of Motivation and Hierarchy of Human Needs: A Critical Analysis (online) last accessed on 20/05/2015 athttps://thoughtleaderpedia.com/Marketing-Library/AdvertisingDoesn%27tWork_HierachyOfEffectsModel/8703989-Maslows-Hierarchy-of-Needs-A-Critical-Analysis.pdf Smith M A (2011) Are you a transformational leader? Nursing Management (online) last accessed on 03/05/2015 at https://journals.lww.com/nursingmanagement/Fulltext/2011/09000/Are_you_a_transformational_leader_.8.aspx Stanley D (2006) In command of care: Clinical Nurse Leadership Explored Journal of research in nursing 11 (1): 20-39 Suliman W A (2009) Leadership Style of Nurse Managers in a Multinational Environment Nurse Admin Q 33(4): 301-309