Multiple risk factors for unplanned readmissions within 1 month of hospital discharge in acute care hospitals in Japan.

AIM: The aim of this study is to analyse the risk factors for unplanned readmissions within 1 month after hospital discharge to develop a seamless support system from discharge to home care. BACKGROUND: With shorter hospital stay lengths, understanding the characteristics of patients with multiple risk factors is important to prevent rehospitalization. DESIGN: This is a single-centre retrospective descriptive study. METHODS: Logistic regression and decision tree analyses were performed using eight items from the records of 3117 patients discharged from a university hospital between April-September 2017 as risk factors. RESULTS: Unplanned readmission risk was significantly associated with emergency hospitalization (odds ratio [OR]: 3.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.04-4.77), malignancy (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.44-3.24), non-surgical admission (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.07-2.88), hospital stay of ≥ 15 days (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.14-2.43) and decline in activities of daily living owing to hospitalization (OR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.06-2.64). The highest risk combinations for rehospitalization were as follows: emergency hospitalization and malignancy; emergency admission, non-malignancy and a hospital stay of ≥15 days; and scheduled hospitalization, no surgery and a hospital stay of ≥15 days. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with multiple risks for unplanned readmission should be accurately screened and provided with optimal home care.

Developing an Instrument to Assess the Readiness for Advance Care Planning.

CONTEXT: In recent times, advance care planning for patients' end-of-life care preferences has attracted much attention worldwide. OBJECTIVES: To develop the Readiness for Advance Care Planning (RACP) Scale. METHODS: Participants included 624 Japanese citizens who were registered with a web-based survey company as of February 2019. Items regarding the process of advance care planning (ACP) were developed based on a literature review and expert panel discussions. The expert panel included nine experts and practitioners in the field of end-of-life care. Construct validity, concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability were evaluated. RESULTS: Initially, 37 items were collected. Examination of the floor effect, item-total, good-poor analysis, and exploratory factor analysis yielded a five-factor model with 28 items. The goodness of fit of the model was GFI = 0.80, CFI = 0.91, and RMSEA = 0.08. The concurrent validity was statistically significant (rs = 0.26-0.45, ps < 0.001). Cronbach's alpha for the overall scale was 0.95. The corresponding values for the subscales ranged from 0.90 to 0.97. The intraclass correlation coefficients indicating test-retest reliability was 0.66 (P < 0.001) for the total scale and ranged from 0.52-0.65 for the five subscales. CONCLUSIONS: The validity and reliability of the scale were generally acceptable. The RACP is an appropriate instrument to evaluate the level of readiness for ACP behaviors among people of various generations at every health stage. More studies are needed to examine the clinical utility of the RACP, both nationally and internationally.

Defining a good death for people with dementia: A scoping review.

AIM: End-of-life care for people with dementia is becoming increasingly important as the global population ages. However, there is no agreed definition of a good death for people with dementia. The current review examined previous literature to establish the current state of knowledge on this issue. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review using a standard methodological framework. Relevant studies were identified from four databases. Studies were included if they were in English, discussed palliative or end-of-life care for dementia, and defined or explained a good death. The definitions or explanations of a good death were categorized into subthemes, and grouped into broader themes. RESULTS: We identified 11 articles discussing or explaining a good death in dementia, which were published between 2009 and 2017. Most of these studies drew on the views of healthcare professionals and/or family members of people with dementia, and only one considered the views of people with dementia themselves. Ten themes were identified, including pain-free status, peaceful/comfort, dignity, family presence, surrounded by familiar things and people, person-centered communication, spirituality, life completion, treatment preferences, and other. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristics of a good death in dementia showed similarities with those identified more generally. However, there were some themes that were specific to end-of-life care in dementia, notably "surrounded by familiar things and people" and "person-centered communication". To obtain a fuller picture of the nature of a good death in dementia, researchers need to examine the views of people living with dementia.

Developing an instrument to self-evaluate the Discharge Planning of Ward Nurses.

AIMS: To develop the Discharge Planning of Ward Nurses (DPWN), a Japanese self-evaluation instrument for ward nurses' discharge planning practices. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. METHODS: Participants were 624 ward nurses from six hospitals in Japan with a discharge planning department. Items about discharge planning practices were collected from literature and interviews with nurses and researchers. Construct validity, concurrent validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability were tested. RESULTS: Initially, 55 items were collected. Examination of the floor effect, item-total, good-poor analyses and exploratory factor analysis yielded a four-factor model with 24 items ('teaching home-care skills with community/hospital professionals,' 'identifying clients' potential needs early in the discharge process,' 'introducing social resources' and 'identifying client/family wishes and building consensus for discharge'). The four-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The DPWN correlated with scales ascertaining similar concepts, supporting concurrent validity. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were generally satisfactory.

[Effect of a Discharge Planning Educational Program in a University Hospital].

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a discharge planning educational program on multidisciplinary team staff in a community. We provided training to nurses of a university hospital. The training covered an introduction to discharge planning, decision-making support, home care medicine and home nursing care, the medical social welfare system, and case review meetings. It was conducted every year from September through February between 2012 and 2015. Before and after the training, the awareness of nurses was evaluated by using self-administered questionnaires and the Discharge Planning scale for Ward Nurses(DPWN), and discharge planning satisfaction was measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS). The study process was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Tokyo Women's Medical University. The questionnaires were distributed to 96 nurses; of these, responses of 72 nurses(pre- and post-training)were analyzed(response rate: 75.0%). The average number of years of nursing experience was 8.5± 7.7. The total score of the DPWN and its subscales, as well as the VAS, with regard to satisfaction level significantly increased after the training(p<0.01), indicating that training improved nurses' awareness of discharge planning practices.

[The verification of effectiveness of home medical care workshop for hospital nurses: the result was based on before/after questionnaire survey].

Since 2006, the department of home nursing care at Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital has held a half year long 6-courses home medical care workshop for our hospital nurses by inviting local medical and welfare specialists as their lecturers. The objective of the workshop was to gain a wider range of knowledge and understanding of hospital discharge support system and home medical care services. In order to evaluate the level of understanding and achievement obtained from the workshop, a questionnaire survey was conducted in 2010 asking the participants to fill out a self evaluation form before and after the course. In addition to that, a class evaluation form was handed out after each class to evaluate a level of understanding of each lecture. The result showed that all aspect of the evaluation levels went up(p<0. 05). Some of the free comments were summarized in the followings: 1 ) Positive results were obtained by working together, and we learned how to coordinate with the regional medical specialists through specific case studies. 2 ) It was a good opportunity for the nurses to receive a direct advice from facilitators(visiting nurses)on cases at hand. 3 ) The lectures' talks based on their experiences brought us a feeling of closeness in the regional home medical care. After the course was concluded, the following issues were raised by hospital ward nurses in the area of difficulties at the time of patient's discharge from the hospital: 1 ) The coordination between doctors and other medical specialists, 2 ) Handling of different requirements among the different family members, 3 ) Timing of patient discharge planning, and 4 ) Lack of knowledge in social resources and medical health insurance system. Hence, we would like to incorporate these survey findings.

[Change in unit nurses' knowledge and practice before or after the intervention by using a discharge support planning tool at highly advanced medical center].

A survey was conducted to 75 unit-nurses to verify the change in nurses' knowledge and practice before or after the intervention by using a discharge support planning tool at highly advanced medical center. The discharge support planning tool was made from four sheets: Screening Sheet I - an identification sheet for patient who needs a discharge plan at an early stage, Screening Sheet II - an activity evaluation sheet to check the patient's daily activities, Screening Sheet III - a direction confirmation sheet for the family and medical practitioners, and Screening Sheet IV - a discharge flow chart to show overall discharge arrangements. In the survey results, the unit nurses' knowledge and practice was significantly increased after the use of the discharge support planning tool(p<0.05)in the following areas: (1) collection of information regarding the economic situation and social environment, (2) preparedness of medical services, and (3) a team work between nurses and dieticians for discharge support planning. A satisfaction to the discharge support planning tool was also increased(p<0.01). Utilizing the discharge planning tool is a useful manual to determine the contents of the discharge planning. It also gives an idea for inexperienced nurses what the discharge planning tool is all about.