Heart Failure Patient's Perceptions of Quality of Life After Participation in a Four- Week Transition to Care Program

Whitaker-Brown, Charlene DeNyse

Monday, 18 November 2013

Charlene DeNyse Whitaker-Brown, BSN, MSN, NP-C
Sanger Heart and Vascular, Heart Success Clinic, Carolinas Medical Center-Northeast, Concord, NC

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to evaluate if completion of a multidisciplinary transitional care clinic is associated with an improvement in patients quality of life.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to understand and identify emotional and mental barriers that affect patients perceived quality of life.

Background: Research from the past three decades indicates that the incidence and prevalence of heart failure have increased. Factors that have contributed to the increase include the aging United States population and improved survival rates in patients with cardiovascular diseases due to advancements in diagnostic tests and medical therapies (Grady, Dracup, Kennedy, Moser, Piano, Stevenson & Young, 2000). To help this national problem a variety of outpatient heart failure management and transition to care programs have been implemented nationally during the past decade. These programs may have contributed to improved heart failure patient outcomes, including decreased symptoms, improved quality of life, reduced rates of hospital admission and decreased healthcare costs.

Purpose: The purpose of this evidence-based project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a four week transition to care program for patients recently discharged from the hospital with primary heart failure.

Methods: The design of this evidenced based project is a one group pre and post test method using the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ). A patient satisfaction survey will also be administered to the patients at their exit visit. The MLHFQ will measure the effects of symptoms, functional limitations, and psychological distress on an individual’s quality of life. Participants/patients will answer the 21 question Likert scale. This response format was chosen to be consistent with the concept of quality of life and allows each individual to weigh each item using a common scale (MLHFQ, 2012).

Results: We anticipate the findings will suggest that completion of the four week transitional care clinic with the multidisciplinary team is associated with an improvement in patient’s overall quality of life.

Implications for practice: The significance of this scholarly project lies in its ability to advance nursing practice through increased understanding of how a multidisciplinary team can impact patient care.

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