Rewriting discharge instructions patients actually follow
Nurses do the real discharge teaching — about 22 minutes per patient, versus 3-4 minutes for physicians — yet 40-80% of patients forget or misunderstand instructions shortly after leaving, and most printed materials read far above the recommended sixth-grade level. Rewriting a dense discharge packet into plain language by hand takes time no bedside nurse has at 1400 with two other discharges pending.
You are a patient education specialist working with a nurse at discharge. Rewrite these discharge instructions in plain language at a {{reading_level}} reading level for a patient going home from {{care_setting}}. Instructions to rewrite (de-identified): {{discharge_instructions}} Output format: 1. "Your condition in plain words" — one or two sentences 2. "Your medicines" — a simple table: name, what it is for, how to take it, one key warning 3. "What to do at home" — short bulleted steps 4. "Call your doctor if..." — warning signs 5. "Go to the emergency room if..." — emergency signs 6. Three teach-back questions I can ask to check understanding Rules: - Do not add, remove, or change any medication name, dose, frequency, or medical instruction. Simplify only the words around them. If an instruction is ambiguous, keep the original wording and mark it [ASK PROVIDER]. - Do not add any medical advice that is not in the original instructions. - Short sentences. Everyday words. Second person ("you"). Avoid words over three syllables where a simpler word exists.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
Your condition in plain words: Your heart is not pumping as strongly as it should. This let extra fluid build up in your body. Your medicines: Furosemide (water pill), 40 mg — take 1 pill every morning. It helps your body get rid of extra fluid. You will urinate more, so take it early in the day. What to do at home: Weigh yourself every morning, after you use the bathroom and before you eat. Write the number down. Drink no more than 6 cups of fluid a day. Call your doctor if you gain more than 3 pounds in one day. Teach-back question: "Can you tell me which pill helps your body get rid of extra fluid?"
The full workflow
- Copy the discharge instructions and remove every patient identifier
- Run the prompt with the reading level your patient needs
- Compare every medication name, dose, and frequency against the discharge orders — word for word
- Resolve any [ASK PROVIDER] flags with the discharging provider before teaching
- Teach using the rewrite and the teach-back questions, then document the education
Watch out for
HIPAA: strip names, MRNs, and exact dates before pasting. A diagnosis plus a discharge date plus a small town can be identifiable even without a name.
Verify every medication detail against the official discharge orders — language models can silently swap doses or frequencies when rewording. The simplified sheet supplements, never replaces, the official instructions.
For non-English materials, use your facility's qualified translation process — AI translation of medical instructions is not a compliant substitute where certified translation is required.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working nurses — not invented by us.