title: Discharge planning for acute coronary syndrome patients in a tertiary hospital: a best practice implementation project.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute coronary syndromes threaten the lives of patients, and pose a high risk for morbidity and mortality despite advances in treatment. Evidence highlights that effective discharge planning is associated with long-term prognosis of patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this project was to improve local practice in discharge planning for acute coronary syndrome patients in Huadong Hospital, Shanghai.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five criteria identified by the Joanna Briggs Institute were used to conduct an audit in the Cardiovascular Ward and Coronary Care Unit of Huadong Hospital, Shanghai. Forty-two nurses and 65 patients were involved. The Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System and Getting Research into Practice audit tools for promoting change in health practice were used to ascertain compliance with the criteria before and after the implementation of best practice. The program included three phases and was conducted over five months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The project showed that the compliance rates of in-house education, advice on lifestyle changes, education on discharge medication and left ventricular assessment reached 100%. Psychological screening also attained 97% compliance. There were improvements in the compliance rates of four criteria from 38% to 100%, excluding in-house education which was already 100% compliant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The project achieved significant improvements in establishing evidence-based practice of discharge planning for acute coronary syndrome patients in the Cardiovascular Ward and Coronary Care Unit. Strategies for sustaining best practice will continue to be developed in the future.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China.|The Fudan Evidence Based Nursing Center: an Affiliate centre of The Joanna Briggs Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Minmin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Huadong Hospital, Shanghai, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Huadong Hospital, Shanghai, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jianjin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Huadong Hospital, Shanghai, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Huadong Hospital, Shanghai, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiangyue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002681:China; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice / Q000379:methods*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000592:standards*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers
keywords: Acute coronary syndrome; best practice; clinical audit; discharge planning