Introduction
- Congestive heart failure (CHF) requires patients to self-manage at home once they are discharged from the hospital
- The existing guide is too complex and extensive, requiring scientific knowledge or medical background to understand it
- The extensive Spanish-speaking population does not receive any information from the hospital
- Lack of proper patient education connected to CHF leads to poor outcomes (Mohamed et a., 2018)
- This project aims to develop and implement a practice of giving patients dual-language CHF leaflets
Benefits of an Educational Leaflet
- Easy-to-understand for patients without relevant background knowledge
- Requires fewer resources to produce
- Is tailored towards English-speaking and Spanish speaking individuals
- Is consistent with the patient-centered and clinical pathways model
- Helps nurses explain the specifics of CHF and management more effectively
Outcomes
- Improved quality of care since patients will self-manage
- Less frequent readmissions
- Better adherence to provider’s recommendations
- Will allow decreasing morbidities (Mohhamed et al., 2018)
Evidence
- 5 million people in the United States have CHF (Pi & Hu, 2018)
- The number of CHF cases will increase by 46% in the following twenty years (Pi & Hu, 2018)
- The majority of patients at Santa Barnaba have CHF and are Spanish speaking
- CHF is usually associated with high readmission rates due to poor management
- Rice et al. (2018), Mathew and Thukha (2018), Mathew & Thukha (2018), and Sherin et al. (2017) state that patient education is vital to reduce the morbidities of CHF
Conclusion
Research suggests that patient education is a critical element of improving the process of at-home management for CHF. Since patients will receive information in English and Spanish, and it will be easy to understand, they will be able to adhere to the recommendations of their medical providers.
References
Mathew, S., & Thukha, H. (2018). Pilot testing of the effectiveness of nurse-guided, patient-centered heart failure education for older adults. Geriatric Nursing, 39(4), 376-381. Web.
Mohamed, M., Alaa El-Deen, S., Ali, G., & Ibrahim, M. (2019). Effect of applying a clinical pathway for patients with Congestive Heart Failure on their health status outcomes. Nursing and Palliative Care International Journal, 2(1), 12-19. Web.
Pi, H. Y., & Hu, X. (2016). Nursing care in old patients with heart failure: current status and future perspectives. Journal of Geriatric Cardiology : JGC, 13(5), 387–390. Web.
Rice, H., Say, R., & Betihavas, V. (2018). The effect of nurse-led education on hospitalisation, readmission, quality of life and cost in adults with heart failure. A systematic review. Patient Education And Counseling, 101(3), 363-374. Web.