5 questions to ask before you leave the hospital

Getting ready to leave the hospital? Before you grab your things and head home, it’s important to make sure you understand your care instructions. That’s where discharge nurses come in—they help make your transition home safer and smoother.

In fact, discharge is so important that M Health Fairview became the first health system in Minnesota to employ nurses who specialize in hospital admit and discharge. Nurses at M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville and the University of Minnesota Medical Center now meet with patients virtually to go over questions when they first arrive at the hospital. Then they meet with patients again when they’re ready to leave the hospital. The admit and discharge nurses are experts at empowering people to go home safely.

“Our nurses are really engaged in this work and excited about trying different ways to support their peers and to support patients and find ways to offload different administrative tasks of their peers on the floor,” said Jenna Virant, RN, vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer at Ridges. “The two hospitals are connecting across the system and talking about how they can better their workflow and what to focus on next.”

Virant and Angie Holte, MBA, BSN, RN, a patient care supervisor at M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital, share five questions to ask your discharge nurse.