Service Plan Brief: Digitally Recorded Discharge Education
Service Plan Brief for the
Implementation of Digitally Recorded Discharge Education on the Postpartum Unit
January 7, 2021
Felicia T. Murret, BSN, RN
Wester
...
Service Plan Brief: Digitally Recorded Discharge Education
Service Plan Brief for the
Implementation of Digitally Recorded Discharge Education on the Postpartum Unit
January 7, 2021
Felicia T. Murret, BSN, RN
Western Governors University
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Service Plan Brief: Digitally Recorded Discharge Education
Service Plan Brief for the
Implementation of Digitally Recorded Discharge Education on the Postpartum Unit
Service Idea
As nursing students, we are taught that discharge planning and teaching begins with
patient admission. We learn very quickly, in practice, that patients face numerous obstacles to
comprehending discharge teaching and providing self-care once they leave the confines of the
medical facility. These obstacles may put more patients at higher risk for readmission. It is
imperative that medical facilities constantly reevaluate their processes and procedures related to
patient discharge education to improve patient health outcomes and decrease adverse events /
readmission rates. Specific to the postpartum patient, one-on-one engagement with the nurse in
the discussion of postpartum care may be overshadowed by the excitement of the birth of a
newborn, exhaustion due to caring for the newborn, frequent visitor interruptions, medications
that may decrease patient comprehension, or poor communication between the nurse and patient.
Taking these obstacles into consideration is cause for a re-engineering of the discharge teaching
methods on the postpartum unit. Various methods and tools to deliver postpartum discharge
instructions have enhanced the quality of instructions and been shown to increase patient
satisfaction (Wagner & Washington, 2016).
This service plan discusses implementing digitally recorded education material and
discharge instructions that can be displayed on a closed-circuit television (CCTV) programming
channel in the patient room and is also accessible online following the patient’s discharge. This
will enable the postpartum patient and her support person to view self-care instructions at a time
that is most convenient. This method provides consistency across the unit and encourages open
dialogue between the patient and the nurse. Viewing the media at a convenient time provides the
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Service Plan Brief: Digitally Recorded Discharge Education
patient with the opportunity to process the information being presented allowing her to formulate
questions during her hospitalization, prior to discharge.
Market Analysis
Performance of a market analysis reveals the stakeholders and contributors in the service
implementation. The target population includes the postpartum patients and their caretakers. For
the service plan to be successful, it will require the support of specific referral bases that include
obstetricians, pediatricians, hospital administrators, hospital educators, childbirth course
instructors, and previous patients. There are no significant competitors apart from the current use
of the CCTV programming which includes dissemination of important facility information.
• Target population: Postpartum patients and support person
• Potential Referral Bases: Obstetricians, Pediatricians, Hospital Administrators, Hospital
Educators, Childbirth Course Instructors
• Potential Competitors: Hospital use of CCTV – Dissemination of facility information
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis was performed using an interprofessional approach with the following
results. There are four internal factors that are potential strengths of the service idea. Patients can
view the self-care discharge CCTV programming at their leisure and when it is most convenient.
Patients may choose to view the education material in between feedings, or when the newborn is
in the nursery. The information presented is designed and developed by leaders on the
postpartum unit and provides consistency of information passed on to all patients, so there are no
discrepancies. Also, the information presented reinforces the education that the patient receives
from the nursing staff.
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