Seven things to do before a parent comes home from the hospital

Discharge often comes faster than families expect, sometimes with a few hours' notice. These are the things our nurses most wish had been done before they arrive for the first visit.

Before discharge day

Ask the discharge planner which home health agency has been referred and when the first visit will be; you can ask for a specific agency. Get a written medication list and ask which home medicines were stopped, since that is where most mistakes happen. Make sure the first follow-up appointment is booked and that someone can drive.

At home

Clear a wide path from the bed to the bathroom and take up loose rugs. Put a night light in the hallway. If the bedroom is upstairs and stairs are hard, set up a bed downstairs for the first week or two. Bring every pill bottle in the house, including vitamins and over-the-counter medicines, to one place so the nurse can check them against the new list.

On the first night

Write down the after-hours number for the home health agency and the doctor and put it by the phone. Ours is staffed by an on-call nurse every night. If the patient has heart failure, start daily weights the very next morning; our heart failure guide explains why.