Implementing a Departure Lounge: A Strategy to Improve Patient Flow and the Discharge Process

Melanie Barone; Jeremy Miller; Meredith Sumi Long; Jenny Buckles; Patricia Hain; Alan Dubovsky; Heidi High; Pamela De La Cruz; Marleen Williams; Bernice Coleman

doi:10.1097/NNA.0000000000001118

Implementing a Departure Lounge: A Strategy to Improve Patient Flow and the Discharge Process

J Nurs Adm. 2022 Mar 1;52(3):129-131. doi: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000001118.

Authors

Melanie Barone¹, Jeremy Miller, Meredith Sumi Long, Jenny Buckles, Patricia Hain, Alan Dubovsky, Heidi High, Pamela De La Cruz, Marleen Williams, Bernice Coleman

Affiliation

¹ Author Affiliations: Associate Director (Ms Barone), Short Stay Unit; Manager (Mr Miller), Capacity Management: Centralized Staffing; Administrator on Duty (Ms Long); and Manager (Ms Buckles), Clinical Support Services, Thedacare, Appleton, Wisconsin; and Executive Director (Ms Hain), Nursing; Chief Patient Experience Officer (Mr Dubovsky); Executive Director (Ms High), Capacity Management; Clinical Nurses (Mss De La Cruz and Williams), and Director (Dr Coleman), Nursing Research & Quality Department, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.

PMID: 35179140
DOI: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000001118

Abstract

This column presents the development of a Departure Lounge at Cedars Sinai Medical Center as a mechanism to assist in addressing capacity constraints. Departure lounges have been presented as an option to improve hospital throughput by providing a safe space for discharged patients to wait once medical and nursing care has been completed.

MeSH terms

Academic Medical Centers
Hospital to Home Transition / organization & administration*
Humans
Inpatients*
Los Angeles
Patient Discharge*
Quality Improvement