Nurses should be given more powers to discharge patients and help ease the pressure on South Australia’s overcrowded hospitals, the union says. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) state secretary Elizabeth Dabars said the State Government agreed to roll out nurse-led discharges in some areas of the health system 18 months ago. The change would mean nurses could discharge patients from hospital in certain situations, such as after minor surgeries, and according to criteria agreed upon by doctors. Ms Dabars said the practice was already happening for specific situations in some hospitals but not enough had been done to implement a broader policy change.
