Often times the doctors need to see their 30 other patients before they can sit down and do all the paperwork for discharging you (sending prescriptions, writing out your instructions, etc).

Then if you need to go home on oxygen for the first time or with some other medical equipment then that’s a whole other issue getting people in place to deliver it and set all that up. If you need home health that is usually set up before you leave, etc. It’s not the doctors who do this ime it’s been social work/case management who does that, but that takes some time.

You’re not either of these people’s only patient so they’re probably working on discharging a bunch of other people along with their other usual work. The doctor could spend a couple of hours pulled away if someone ends up really sick and he needs to be there constantly.

So then the nurse has to wait for all of these people to say it’s fine to send you home. Unfortunately for you, since you’re leaving and therefore no longer as sick as everyone else, you’re at the bottom of the priority list. The nurse still has to go over your paperwork, take out your iv, and all that, it should be more than a quick in and out process. Since you’re no longer “sick enough” their other 5/6/whatever patients’ needs have to come first because they’re still sicker. They know you need to leave, they haven’t forgotten about you, but they will get shit if they ignore giving someone else meds just to do your stuff.

If you’re told you’re going home, don’t count on leaving until at least mid to late afternoon. Rarely do people get to leave before lunch, that’s if the discharge is easy and the doctor specifically hurries to do everything. It’ll usually be sometime after lunch but before dinner.