Discharge education has always been an important role for nurses working in acute care contexts. With the advent of case mix funding and subsequent trends towards early discharge from hospital, this educational role is assuming increasing importance. This paper addresses one aspect of a participatory action research study where a group of nurses, working in a paediatric orthopaedic ward, explored their discharge education practices and resources. The seemingly large number of post-discharge telephone queries received from parents of children treated on the ward prompted these nurses to question whether their discharge teaching practices were effective. Data collected on these telephone queries identified parental concerns regarding the care of their child at home in a plaster. This finding prompted group members to explore the ways that written information relating to care of the plaster at home might be implicated in the situation. An analysis of an existing 'home cast care' discharge instruction sheet raised issues concerning the content and language used in such resources. The paper describes the subsequent development of a plain English 'plaster care' discharge instruction sheet and argues the importance of using plain English in such resources.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Health Sciences
Research Group:	Nursing
Research Field:	Nursing not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Other health
Objective Field:	Other health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Robinson, A (Professor Andrew Robinson)
ID Code:	9273
Year Published:	1996
Web of Science® Times Cited:	9
Deposited By:	Health Sciences B
Deposited On:	1996-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-08-22
Downloads:	0