Endurance Homebound
The first days home from the hospital: a planner
The first three days home are about settling in: medicines set out the way the discharge team explained, easy meals, a clear way around the house, and someone close by, especially at night. Print this and tick it off.
What is a first-days-home planner?
A first-days-home planner is a printable checklist for the hours and days after a hospital discharge, covering what to ask before leaving, the day of arrival, the first night and the following week. It sits beside the discharge instructions, which come first. Endurance Homebound is our plan for the first 72 hours after discharge.
Before you start
How do I use this planner?
Print the checklist below, or work from your phone and tick the lines as you go. The planner has four parts: before leaving the hospital, the day of arrival, the first night, and the following week. Start with the first part while your parent is still in the hospital, because that's when the people with answers are in the building.
It doesn't replace the discharge instructions. Those come from the people who know your parent's condition, and they win over anything here. Use the planner for the questions, the supplies, the set-up and the phone calls that are easy to lose track of on the day.
Why do the first three days matter?
Your mother or father is likely to come home tired, perhaps on new medicines, to a house that hasn't changed since they left. Outside help, such as visiting nurses or therapy, may not have started yet. A plan for these first days means the meals, reminders and company are arranged before anyone has to improvise, and the family can get some rest too.
National figures point the same way. In AHRQ's analysis of 2014 national data, 14 percent of inpatient stays ended in a readmission within 30 days, and more than a third of those readmissions happened within the first 7 days after discharge. In 2020, stays paid by Medicare had a 30-day readmission rate of 17.0 per 100 admissions, the highest of any payer.
What does a hospital discharge planner do?
A discharge planner is the hospital staff member who arranges what happens after the stay: the discharge date, the instructions your parent goes home with, referrals for follow-up care, and equipment such as a walker or commode. The title varies by hospital. You may hear case manager, social worker or nurse navigator.
Ask for the planner early, ideally the day you learn a discharge is coming, and ask for the instructions in writing. The planner can tell you what the hospital has set up and what is left for the family. Our list of questions for the discharge planner goes with the first part of the checklist below.
What happens on the first day home?
Most of the first day is getting settled. Follow the discharge team's instructions for medicines, wound dressings and therapy. Where a caregiver is part of the plan, they help with the day around them: meals, getting washed and dressed (personal care, in Connecticut and New Jersey), moving safely, reminders at the times the instructions set, and company while your parent gets used to the house again.
First hours: medicines in one place
Put every medicine, old and new, in one place with the discharge sheet beside it. A caregiver can go through the schedule with you and give reminders at those times. If questions come up about the list, the prescriber or pharmacist is the person to ask, so jot them down as they come to you and bring them to the follow-up call.
Six hours in: easy food in the kitchen
Appetite can be low after a hospital stay, and cooking is often the first thing to go. A caregiver shops, cooks and leaves something easy to reach in the fridge. Go through our hospital discharge checklist before the homecoming and most of this will already be in place.
Twelve hours in: a clear way to the bathroom
Any equipment that came home, such as a walker, a raised seat or a commode, helps only if the way to it is clear at night. Take up loose rugs, tuck away cords, leave a light on and move the chair to where it's needed. If you'd feel better with someone there that first night, an overnight caregiver stays awake through it. Supervision through that first night is the most requested piece of the window.
What do days two and three look like?
By the second day, family members have often gone back to work and the house is quieter. These days are mostly about phone calls and company.
The calls are to book or confirm the follow-up appointment, to the pharmacy, and to the number on the discharge papers if anything changes. A caregiver can make the call and hand your parent the phone, keep the calendar straight, and drive to the appointment when it comes. That's the part that most often slips when everyone is back at work.
Company does more than it seems. Someone who was there yesterday notices that today the stairs took longer, lunch went untouched or the walker was left in the hall. The caregiver tells you, so you can call the doctor's office while it's still a small thing. Help after surgery follows the same rhythm over a longer stretch; read about recovering at home after a hip replacement.
How should I plan the nights?
Start with the nights and the times your parent will be moving around most: getting up, the stairs, the bathroom. If nobody in the family can be there then, that's where help makes the most difference.
The schedule can follow what you need, and it can change as the first days show you what's needed. Both hourly care and 24/7 care with live-ins are standing arrangements here, so the shape can change on day two without changing agencies.
Hourly care
Covers the hardest parts of the day.
Overnight care
Gives you an awake caregiver for the night hours.
Live-in caregiver
Lives in the home and helps through the day, with a proper night's rest.
24-hour care
Caregivers work awake shifts so someone is up day and night.
Connecticut counties
In Connecticut, hourly care, and with it overnight and awake 24-hour care, is offered in Fairfield and New Haven counties. In the other Connecticut counties, care is live-in.
Where does home care fit, and what is Endurance Homebound?
Endurance Homebound is a plan for the first 72 hours after discharge, so the first days home have help built in. A caregiver helps with meals, reminders at the set times, the ride to the follow-up, getting around the house safely and keeping things in order. The schedule is built around the discharge date you give us, and it can change on day two if day one shows you need something different.
Endurance provides daily-living transitional support in Connecticut and New Jersey, for families in Fairfield County and across both states. In New York, Endurance provides companion care only, which means company, meals, errands, rides to appointments and reminders, with no hands-on help.
In Connecticut, skilled nursing, home health aides and physical therapy come from Endurance Home Health, a separate company. Endurance Home Care caregivers support the daily routine around the care the discharge team ordered.
Endurance Technology Solutions (ETS) is optional 24/7 audio monitoring with a plug-and-play install. It listens for events, not conversations, and if something happens in the room it alerts our team so someone can respond. Some families add it for the hours when nobody is scheduled. Whether to use it is always the family's choice.
Tell us the discharge date if you know it, and what worries you most about the first nights. We'll staff the first three days around it. The first conversation is free, and nothing starts until you say so. Endurance is licensed in Connecticut (Connecticut License HCA.0002450, a Homemaker-Companion Agency registration) and New Jersey (New Jersey License HP0435100, a Health Care Service Firm registration).
When should I call the doctor?
Follow the discharge instructions. They say who to call and for what. Keep the number on the discharge papers by the phone, and call the doctor's office or that number with questions about medicines, symptoms or anything that changes. In an emergency, call 911.
Caregivers from Endurance give reminders and keep you posted on what they notice. They don't give medical advice, and Endurance can't tell you what a symptom means. That's a question for your parent's doctor, the number on the discharge papers or, in an emergency, 911.
Checklist
The first days home planner
Tick each line as it's done. The discharge instructions come first, and this list sits beside them.
Before leaving the hospital
- Ask the discharge planner who the hospital contact is after you leave, and write the number down.
- Get the discharge instructions in writing and read them through before leaving.
- Ask for the full list of medicines, old and new, with what each is for and when to take it.
- Ask whether new prescriptions are filled yet, and which pharmacy has them.
- Ask about equipment: a walker, raised seat, commode or bed, and who delivers it and when.
- Ask which follow-up appointments are booked, with whom, and who arranges the ride.
- Ask what to expect: activity, stairs, eating and drinking, wound care or therapy.
- Ask what visiting nurse or therapy services are set up, and when they start.
- Ask who to call with questions after hours, and what to do in an emergency.
The day of arrival
- Put every medicine, old and new, in one place with the discharge sheet beside it.
- Set out the medicine schedule where your parent can see it.
- Stock easy food and drinks that match the discharge instructions, within easy reach.
- Take up loose rugs, tuck away cords and leave pathways clear.
- Set up equipment where it will be used, and check the route to it.
- Decide who will be in the house today, and who is back tomorrow.
- Keep the phone, glasses and discharge papers within reach of the chair or bed.
- Write the doctor's number and the hospital contact on a page by the phone.
The first night
- Decide who is in the house tonight, and where they sleep.
- Leave a light on along the way to the bathroom, and clear the path.
- Follow the discharge instructions for medicines, and ask the prescriber or pharmacist who should prepare them.
- Keep water, the phone and a flashlight at the bedside.
- Check that the bed or chair height is right and the equipment is in place.
- Write down any question that comes up in the night for the follow-up call.
- Keep the discharge sheet's emergency instructions where everyone can find them.
- If nobody can be there, decide before dark whether to arrange an overnight caregiver.
The following week
- Book or confirm the follow-up appointment, and arrange the ride.
- Call the pharmacy about refills and any questions on the list.
- Check that any visiting nurse or therapy visits have started.
- Plan meals for the week and shop for them.
- Decide who will check in each day, and who calls whom if something changes.
- Note how the days went: eating, sleeping, moving about, mood.
- Review the set-up: bathroom, bedroom, stairs and equipment.
- Tell the doctor's office what you noticed, and adjust the plan and the schedule.
Questions families ask
Why do the first 72 hours after hospital discharge matter?
Because the first days home bring the most change at once. Medicines may be new, energy is usually low, and follow-up care may not have started yet. AHRQ's national data shows that 14 percent of inpatient stays end in a readmission within 30 days, and more than a third of those happen within the first 7 days.
What is Endurance Homebound?
Endurance Homebound is our plan for the first 72 hours after discharge, with help at home for meals, reminders, getting around and company. The schedule is built around the discharge date you give us, and it can change on day two. It's available in Connecticut and New Jersey.
Can someone stay overnight during the first nights home?
Yes. 24/7 Care + Live-Ins and Hourly Care are both standing types of care at Endurance. Overnight care gives you a caregiver who stays awake through the agreed night hours. A live-in caregiver lives in the home and helps through the day, with a proper night's rest, and 24-hour care has caregivers working awake shifts.
What is ETS virtual care?
ETS stands for Endurance Technology Solutions, optional 24/7 virtual care through 100 percent audio technology, with a plug-and-play install. It listens for events, not conversations, and if something happens in the room it alerts our team so the team can respond promptly. Whether to use it is always the family's choice.
What does a hospital discharge planner do?
A discharge planner arranges what happens after the stay: the discharge date, written instructions, follow-up referrals and equipment. The title varies, and you may hear case manager or social worker. Ask for them early, and use our questions for the discharge planner to get answers while you're still at the hospital.
Who should be home with my parent the first night?
Someone close by, if you can arrange it. Supervision through that first night is the most requested piece of the window. If nobody in the family can be there, an overnight caregiver stays awake through the agreed night hours. Tell us the discharge date and the hours you'd like covered.
Does Medicare cover home care after a hospital stay?
Medicare covers part-time or intermittent skilled home health care for people who are homebound, from a Medicare-certified agency. It doesn't pay for 24-hour care at home or for custodial or personal care when that's the only care you need. Private home care fills the gap for daily help.
Can Endurance help in New York?
In New York, Endurance provides companion care only: company, meals, errands, rides to appointments and reminders. It doesn't include hands-on personal care. For the first days home, that means support for errands and appointments. Endurance Homebound's daily-living transitional support is offered in Connecticut and New Jersey.
When should I call the doctor?
Follow the discharge instructions, which say who to call and for what. Call the doctor's office or the number on the discharge papers with questions about medicines or changes. In an emergency, call 911. Endurance caregivers keep you posted on what they notice but don't give medical advice.
Do I need nursing or a home health aide at home too?
That depends on what the discharge team orders. If it includes skilled nursing, home health aide care or therapy, those come from licensed providers. In Connecticut, they come through Endurance Home Health, a separate company from Endurance Home Care. Endurance Home Care caregivers support the daily routine around them.
Talk with our care team
Let's talk about the help you need
Tell us a little about what's happening, and we'll call to talk it through. The first conversation is free, and nothing starts until you say so.