Hospital readmission rates continue to be increasing at an alarming rate, and have cost billions of dollars in expenditures in the health care system. Recent research shows that these incidents are reflective of the lack of discharge preparation, discharge education, and communication within the health care team. Certain factors have been overlooked, such as patient's health literacy, defragmented delivery of resources, and an ineffective process of teaching. Addressing these factors can help decrease readmissions by improving the discharge practice during hospitalization.
The primary focus of this project is on how to implement and maintain a culture change around the discharge process. A re-engineered discharge method will be implemented to better prepare patients before their discharge, and prevent them from coming back to the hospital. The foremost focal point is on improving patient discharge education, communication, and an increased multidisciplinaiy team approach, centering on a patient's cohesive transition from the hospital to then home. These new cultural changes in the patient discharge practice will be measured for sustainability.
","abstract_html":"<p>Hospital readmission rates continue to be increasing at an alarming rate, and have cost billions of dollars in expenditures in the health care system. Recent research shows that these incidents are reflective of the lack of discharge preparation, discharge education, and communication within the health care team. Certain factors have been overlooked, such as patient's health literacy, defragmented delivery of resources, and an ineffective process of teaching. Addressing these factors can help decrease readmissions by improving the discharge practice during hospitalization.</p> <p>The primary focus of this project is on how to implement and maintain a culture change around the discharge process. A re-engineered discharge method will be implemented to better prepare patients before their discharge, and prevent them from coming back to the hospital. The foremost focal point is on improving patient discharge education, communication, and an increased multidisciplinaiy team approach, centering on a patient's cohesive transition from the hospital to then home. These new cultural changes in the patient discharge practice will be measured for sustainability.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ferrer, Kareen I."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Nursing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Eira Klich-Heartt, RN, MSN"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:06:07Z","subjects":["Nursing"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/nursing-masters-theses/65","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Eira Klich-Heartt, RN, MSN"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ferrer, Kareen I."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Nursing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Nursing"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/nursing-masters-theses/65"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Hospital readmission rates continue to be increasing at an alarming rate, and have cost billions of dollars in expenditures in the health care system. Recent research shows that these incidents are reflective of the lack of discharge preparation, discharge education, and communication within the health care team. Certain factors have been overlooked, such as patient's health literacy, defragmented delivery of resources, and an ineffective process of teaching. Addressing these factors can help decrease readmissions by improving the discharge practice during hospitalization.
The primary focus of this project is on how to implement and maintain a culture change around the discharge process. A re-engineered discharge method will be implemented to better prepare patients before their discharge, and prevent them from coming back to the hospital. The foremost focal point is on improving patient discharge education, communication, and an increased multidisciplinaiy team approach, centering on a patient's cohesive transition from the hospital to then home. These new cultural changes in the patient discharge practice will be measured for sustainability.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Sustaining a Cultural Change in the Discharge Process"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Eira Klich-Heartt, RN, MSN"],"dc:creator":["Ferrer, Kareen I."],"dc:description.abstract":["Hospital readmission rates continue to be increasing at an alarming rate, and have cost billions of dollars in expenditures in the health care system. Recent research shows that these incidents are reflective of the lack of discharge preparation, discharge education, and communication within the health care team. Certain factors have been overlooked, such as patient's health literacy, defragmented delivery of resources, and an ineffective process of teaching. Addressing these factors can help decrease readmissions by improving the discharge practice during hospitalization.
The primary focus of this project is on how to implement and maintain a culture change around the discharge process. A re-engineered discharge method will be implemented to better prepare patients before their discharge, and prevent them from coming back to the hospital. The foremost focal point is on improving patient discharge education, communication, and an increased multidisciplinaiy team approach, centering on a patient's cohesive transition from the hospital to then home. These new cultural changes in the patient discharge practice will be measured for sustainability.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/nursing-masters-theses/65"],"dc:subject":["Nursing"],"dc:title":["Sustaining a Cultural Change in the Discharge Process"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Nursing"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:06:07Z"}