Heart Failure Education Bundle to Improve Self-Care And Reduce Hospital Readmission

Vicki D. Myers-Griffin

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

Abstract

Background: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has identified heart failure has a major health concern in the United States. There are 5.7 million Americans currently diagnosed with HF, with 550,000 cases annually. The total cost to manage HF is predicted to reach $69.5 billion, with 30-day hospital readmission as the greatest financial expenditure. The lack of patient education was noted as weakness for many healthcare organizations leading to an increase in hospital readmission. The urgency to manage HF more effectively has resulted in regulatory policies requiring healthcare providers and organizations to improve self-care HF management. Methods: An education bundle was created for HF patients and presented by a Nurse Practitioner, a Pharmacist, and a Registered Dietician. Patients were invited to attend the special educational sessions from a hospital generated list of HF patients with 1 or more 30-day readmission post hospital discharge. Results: The 3 participants who completed the program showed an increase in the total score in each of the 3 sections of the SCHIF V6.2 questionnaire in self-care behavior (6.3), self-care management (5.3) and self-care confidence (5.7), and were able to avoid hospital readmission at 30, 60 and 90 days. Conclusion: The HF education bundle has been shown to be an effective non-pharmacological intervention in the management of HF disease.