Objective: To study quality management for discharge planning of head nurses.
Material and Methods: Data were collected from 86 head nurses in a university hospital and regional hospitals in southern Thailand by a questionnaire developed by the researcher.
Results: Quality management for discharge planning of the whole and all dimensions was at a moderate level. Considering each dimension, it was found that process management had the highest performance; structure management and evaluation management had moderate performance; and outcome management had the lowest performance (70.9%, 68.6%, 65.1% and 62.8% respectively). The subjects had many problems from all dimensions, with structure management posing the most problems. The top 3 were 1) inappropriate staff nurse management, 2) lack of clear guidelines for their work, and 3) lack of multidisciplinary working system.
Conclusion: Quality management for discharge planning was not obviously a new concept in nursing practice, but to enhance their performance, nurse administrators need a strategic and system approach. The researcher suggested that nursing units should set up a policy of discharge planning, a multidisciplinary care team and a continuing care referral system.