Effects of using a discharge planning program for stroke patients on length of hospital stays and caring ability of stroke patients, caregivers, Nan Hospital
Abstract:
The purposes of this quasi experimental research were to compare length of hospital stays for stroke patients and caring ability of stroke patient caregivers before and after the implementation of a discharge planning program for stroke patients at Nan Hospital. Subjects were 20 stroke patients who were Ischemic stroke and 20 stroke patient caregivers who were purposively assigned. The discharge planning program included 1) project discharge planning for stroke patients in Nan Hospital, a training workshop program, 2) discharge planning guidelines for stroke patients, stroke patients discharge planning handbooks for nurses, 3) handbooks on stroke patient care for caregivers that were tested for content validity by a panel of five experts. The data collection instruments included length of hospital stay records and a caring ability of stroke patient caregivers questionnaire. The caring ability of stroke patient caregivers questionnaire had a Cronbachs alpha coefficient of 0.92. All data were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test. The research findings were as follows: 1. The length of hospital stays for stroke patients after the implementation of a discharge planning program for stroke patients were significantly lower (6.20 day) than before the implementation of the program, at the 0.5 level. 2. The overall caring ability of stroke patient caregivers after the implementation of a discharge planning program for stroke patients was significantly higher than before the implementation of the program, at the 0.5 level.