Improving Discharge Teaching for Adult Patients with an Ileostomy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Local problem: Discharge teaching is essential to the self-care and successful recovery of colorectal surgery patients, yet the trend toward shorter hospital stays for patients with new ileostomies limits opportunities for patient education. As a result, discharged patients at our institution are initiating calls to providers with questions that could have been addressed prior to discharge. Purpose: The aim of this quality improvement (QI) project was to decrease patient-initiated postdischarge inquiries using a frequently asked questions (FAQs) handout at discharge. Methods: A retrospective chart review of inquiries to the outpatient clinic over the six-month period between July 2020 and January 2021 revealed common concerns, among them bowel movements, home health care, medications, wound care, stoma issues, pathology reports, diet, and activity-related issues. Based on these concerns, a FAQs handout was developed to review with patients prior to discharge. Data from three postdischarge time periods (0 to 72 hours, 72 hours to 21 days, and 0 to 21 days) in the three months from June to September 2021 were analyzed to determine the impact of the intervention on the frequency and content of the patient inquiries. Results: Use of the FAQs handout led to a decrease in total patient-initiated postdischarge inquiries from 46 in the preintervention period to five in the postintervention period, and fewer topics of concern prompted patients' postintervention inquiries. There was also a pre-to-postintervention reduction in the proportion of patients who made calls to the outpatient clinic in each of the three postdischarge time periods, the greatest of which—from 49% to 15% of patients—was significant and occurred in the 72-hour-to-21-day period. Conclusion: This QI project demonstrated that a change in discharge teaching by adding a FAQs handout to the protocol could be effective.