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Starting Home Care After Discharge: A Step-by-Step Plan for the First 7 Days
What to do in the first week after a patient comes home from hospital: a day-by-day plan for medicines, equipment, nurse and physiotherapy visits, nutrition and warning signs.
Contents
Coming home from hospital is both joyful and worrying. In hospital, staff control everything; at home, responsibility largely moves to the family. The first seven days are the riskiest for medicine mix-ups, eating problems, falls and infections. A well-planned first week lays solid foundations for recovery.
Before discharge (1–3 days ahead)
Get the discharge summary, prescriptions and follow-up details; arrange installation of equipment (hospital bed, air mattress, wheelchair, oxygen); start home care from day one if needed; plan suitable transport or a patient transport ambulance.
Day 1: arrival and setting up
- Settle the patient into the prepared room; check the bed, rails and a way to call for help.
- Compare the medicine list with the summary and prescription; separate old and new medicines.
- Fill the weekly organiser.
- A nurse checks vital signs and wounds, catheters or PEG.
- Post the emergency number list where it is visible.
Day 2: routine
Record medicine times and measurements on a chart, set repositioning times (about every 2 hours for bedridden patients), note food and fluids, check the skin at the tailbone, heels and back.
Day 3: movement
Start physiotherapy if approved: getting out of bed, sitting and short walks, with safety measures and family training in positioning and transfers.
| Day 4 check | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Appetite | Eating less than half of meals: dietitian review |
| Fluids | Adequate unless restricted |
| Bowels | Surgery and painkillers can constipate; ask a doctor after 3 days |
| Urine | Amount, colour, smell; catheter bag check |
Day 5: wounds and procedures
Nurse review of wounds, stitches and dressings; continuing injections such as blood thinners; home blood tests if requested.
Day 6: family training and emotional support
Review family skills (medicines, measurements, skin care, warning signs), watch for fatigue, anxiety or withdrawal, and share tasks so carers can rest.
Day 7: weekly review
- Review the week's records.
- Hold a review conversation with the home care team about hours, equipment and services.
- Prepare for the follow-up appointment with questions, records and the medicine list.
- Plan a home doctor visit if needed.
Warning signs throughout: fever of 38 °C or above, breathlessness or chest pain, wound redness, swelling, discharge or opening, confusion or excessive drowsiness, painful leg swelling, vomiting or inability to eat or drink, not passing urine, or uncontrolled pain. See a doctor, or call 112 if severe.
We provide nursing, carers, physiotherapy, home tests and equipment from day one in a single care plan across Yalova, with first-week planning for discharges from hospitals in Bursa, Istanbul and Kocaeli–Gebze.
