Jeanne, from a patient perspective, take-home instructions online or hard copy would be tremendous, especially now when there is not a family/friend to be with the patient and act as a second pair of ears. I know it is a big ask, when ED staff are so busy, but it may help prevent return visits to ED.

Thanks Nancy for your comment, There is evidence in the ED literature of the importance of written discharge instructions. In 2020, a large systematic review assessed patient comprehension and recall of discharge instructions. The conclusion was that communicating instructions verbally to patients in the ED may not be sufficient and adding video or written information may be better. Hoek A, Anker S, van B, Burdorf A, Rood P, Haagsma J. Patient Discharge Instructions in the Emergency Department and Their Effects on Comprehension and Recall of Discharge Instructions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Ann Emerg Med. 2020;75(3):435-444. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2019.06.008

Providing safe and effective discharge instructions requires significant time, and this is time well-spent as it improves compliance, and patient satisfaction, while reducing unnecessary bounce-back (and thus also reducing overall cost to the system). Sometimes we need to “slow down" in order to "go fast”. ED workload modelling and compensation frameworks should consider these factors.

My 87 year old mom who has cognitive impairment, blind in one eye has been into emergency 4 times since the beginning of 2021. Each visit was via ambulance and due to covid, I was not allowed to be in ER with her. Te only contact I have had is when it was time to pick her 6 to 7 hours later. Discharge info sheet - even a simple tick sheet - with simple instructions would have helped a my mom cannot recall what she was told. When I call back, the nurses or Drs are too busy and may not rcall who they just treated etc.. Not looking for elaborate discharge info sheet, but a simple tick sheet or check ox would help tremendously. 'Thanks'