Investigating Delay Causes in Patients' Discharge in Educational Hospitals of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences from Nurses and Physicians' Perspective, 2016

Delay in patient's timely discharge can affect the efficiency of beds, outcomes of treatment and hospital indicators. The aim of this study was to determine delay causes in the discharge of patients in educational hospitals of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of medical sciences from nurses and physicians' perspective, 2016. The population of this analytic and cross-sectional study consisted of physicians and nurses in 3 educational hospitals affiliated with Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. In this study, 90 physicians and 275 nurses were randomly selected from these hospitals. Data were collected using self-made questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and analytic statistic tests (independent t-test and ANOVA). According to the results of the study, in hospitals A and B, “Financial unaffordability with the mean scores of 3.29 ± 0.95 and 3.36 ± 1.70 was the most important cause of delayed discharge, respectively. However, in hospital C, “Delay recording and sending information by healthcare department” with the mean score of
3.87 ± 0.71 was the most important cause of delay in discharge
(p < 0.05) from the nurses and physicians' perspectives. In nurses' point of view, “Financial unaffordability” (3.24 ± 1.41) and in physicians', point of view “delay in sending settlements by pharmacy and laboratory” (3.15 ± 0.70) were the most important reasons for delay in patients’ discharge. Based on the findings of this study, providing supportive mechanisms for patients, developing insurance and monitoring the optimal performance of hospital units can reduce the delay in timely discharge of patients; since delay in discharge can increase patients' dissatisfaction, reduce hospital beds efficiency and defect hospital indicators.