WA Nurses Set To Discharge patients
Type: Union News Subject: National
5 December 2009
Senior nurses in WA hospitals could be given powers to discharge patients in the emergency department.
WA Health Minister Kim Hames has directed hospitals in the state to reduce waiting times as part of a Four-Hour Rule program. Several hospitals in Perth have adopted the program – which aims for 98% of patients to be seen and admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours.
Senior nurses discharging patients rather than waiting for a doctor could help reduce waiting times significantly.
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital has put forward streamlining the discharge process as a potential solution, a move welcomed by Minister Hames, who said having senior nurses discharging patients rather than waiting for a doctor could help reduce waiting times significantly.
‘They’re not discharging patients under their own steam, making their own decisions,’ he told ABC News. ‘The doctors will set a list of clear clinical guidelines for the nurse to make those decisions, so that will work fine.’
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