Abstract:
Background: Effective discharge planning can minimize the unnecessary utilization of
healthcare facilities. Paediatric discharge planning is a complex process and nurses need
lengthy preparations. Role confusion among nurses will disrupt the smooth discharge. In Sri
Lanka, although there is a possibility of reducing health costs through effective discharge
planning led by paediatric nurses, it is questionable whether Sri Lankan nurses have defined
their role in the discharge planning process. Therefore, exploring the available scientific
evidence on the topic is in utmost need.
Objective: To map different roles of nurses in the paediatric discharge planning process
Methods: This is a systematic review which was done with electronic databases; PubMed and
CINAHL. They were searched for peer-reviewed journal articles among the paediatric
population from 2005-2019, using the keywords; discharge planning, paediatric nurse, care
transitions, transitional care, and Sri Lankan nurse. Additional websites were explored to find
literature in Sri Lanka. Articles resulted in the word combination ‘Discharge planning and
paediatric nursing (n = 329) were used for screening. Duplicates were removed (n = 13). Two
hundred and forty articles that are out of the nursing scope and sixty articles that do not
describe a clear nursing involvement in the discharge process were excluded, based on abstract
review and full-text review respectively.
Results: Sixteen studies were included in the final review. No literature was found on the topic
among Sri Lankan paediatric population. Four main categories of nurses’ roles were identified
with the thematic analysis namely ‘discharge educator, discharge collaborator, post-discharge
care coordinator and family counselor’.
Conclusions: In Sri Lanka, no such defined roles of a nurse have been established yet in the
discharge planning of paediatric patients. These roles may help nurses to carry out discharge
planning effectively, and future studies are needed on this topic in Sri Lanka.