Discharge Plans from Mental Health Institutes

Numerous activities are currently happening with discharge plans. One of the most significant current happenings with discharge plans is the adoption of interventions to provide a vital connectivity between the after care provider and the discharging facility. This happening is crucial because it ensures that the patient is still given effective care and support by the care provider even after leaving the hospital. This boosts the rate of recovery among psychiatric patients. Another current happening is that non-psychiatric obstacles including housing and employment are being dealt with to facilitate effective planning. This ensures that significant recovery plans are made and patients do not face any problem recovering even after leaving the discharge facilities.  Gingerich & Ondeck (1994) affirm that clients are also being included in making effective decisions concerning their discharge plans. The inclusion of clients is vital because it boosts their collaboration in complying with the given conditions of standard discharge planning. Follow up activities are also currently taking place in the discharge facilities to ensure that patients get adequate support even after leaving their areas of treatment. These activities have played a key role in ensuring that patients adhere to their medication and get the opportunity to participate in other works that could help improve their overall lives.

Discharge planning entails two key steps. The first step of discharge planning is the initial planning meeting. In this step, the discharge-planning checklist is used to provide effective guidelines to the discharging unit on the advice to be given to the client. The progress of the patient is monitored in line with the checklist and advice given according to the discoveries made about the patient. Therefore, the planning meeting will advice after discharge care-providers on the relevant measures to take to facilitate the recovery of the patient. The checklist provides an effective opportunity that helps nurses to move around wards and determine patients who could be fit to leave hospitals and leave a normal life at their homes as they partake their medication for effective recovery. The second and last step is leaving from the hospital and the day of discharge. Notably, leaving the hospital should be considered after a thorough conduction of ward round measures that monitor patients and their caregivers. Effective approval should be given by nurses to determine the fitness of the patient to leave the hospital.  Lees (2012) opines that nurses should be careful to determine the fitness of patients before allowing them to be discharged. Clients must also get relevant communication relating to their discharge from their discharge institutes, as this would boost the level of acceptability among them. With respect to this step, the discharge nurse must also give the client discharge medication that would continue to sustain him/her after leaving the hospital. Last, any stored property should be returned to the client to avert case of lost property. The discharge process would only be complete in cases where these effective steps have been keenly observed and all measures taken into consideration.

It is worth noting that mental institutions have adopted significant follow-up measures even after discharging psychiatric patients. The discharge programs are always aimed at monitoring the progress of the patient and the entire recovery process after the discharge of the patient.  According to Gingerich & Ondeck (1994), discharge institutes are focused on facilitating the full recovery of patients and ensuring that they have desirable outcomes to their conditions. Follow-up activities are working excellently especially among clients who had access to adequate discharge planning aftercare services. Statistics indicate that those patients who were advised effectively concerning the relevant measures to be taken after being discharged from their facilities. The high level of compliance among these individuals is deemed to emanate from their inclusion into the collaborative treatment plan that takes care of their position concerning after care treatment.  On the other hand, there was less compliance from patients who received inadequate discharge planning aftercare services. This is because of the perceived view that they did not care about the follow-up activities, as they had not been given proper direction. Patients would only collaborate with the follow up activities in cases where they are satisfied that these activities are inclined toward boosting their recovery. Otherwise, they would not collaborate in cases where they feel that they were not involved adequately in the after discharge care. Therefore, they prefer leaving their own lives. Statistics also indicate that the lack of collaboration among such patients has necessitated readmission because their worse conditions are likely to come back in their normal mode of operations. They are likely to get worse because of non-adherence to medication after leaving their hospitals.

Most clients have someone to assist these patients when they get home. This implies that they have someone to take care of their needs and they are assisted in the performance of most of their tasks.  Care providers are always advised on the correct measures to embrace that would ensure the progress of their patients even after leaving the hospital. Patients who do not have a person to take care of them are always given significant and exhaustive advice on how they can go about their daily lives. Psychiatric nurses always monitor them closely even after leaving their hospitals and this gives them an opportunity to feel accepted. Long-term discharge facilities are always willing to let them go as long as they are deemed fit to stay outside and take care of themselves appropriately. Follow up activities are always undertaken in line with the advice given to these patients during their stay in the long-term discharge facilities. Discharge plans at long-term discharge facilities are always adopted after effective analysis of patients and the determination of their ability to live better lives after the discharge. Long-term discharge facilities do not restrict their patients from leaving these facilities as long as they are studied and deemed fit to leave and continue with their medication in other places other than hospitals. Effective plans are always put in place to allow patients to leave after an examination of their condition.

Lees (2012) reiterates that mental health institutes have put in place vital follow up measures for patients who do not have a person to take care of them. Accordingly, mental institutes rely on giving these patients adequate information about their after-discharge services. The pieces of advice given to these patients are a guiding tool that helps them feel part of the recovery process even after being discharged from their respective facilities. The follow up process entails a direct visit to the homes of patients to monitor their mode of operation and the determination of their adherence to the medication given to them. This also helps in the determination of their participation in work and other significant activities such as cooking and washing. Patients do not leave these facilities at their own risk. It is vital to note that it is nurses who make the decision on whether or not these patients are fit enough to leave their discharge institutions. This is done after an effective study on all patients hence ensuring that they are not left to go if they are still in poor conditions. Therefore, patients do not leave discharge facilities at their own risk as they get advice from their psychiatric nurses.