Learning Objective #1: Describe how the evidence-based congestive heart failure telephone intervention educational program was implemented

Learning Objective #2: Identify the benefits of the telephone intervention program to patients and students

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Background and Purpose: Mounting health care costs in the care of the elderly with chronic illness can lead to innovative and more cost efficient ways of caring for these patients. Worldwide, an estimated 23 million people have heart failure (HF) with two million new cases a year. Due to their age many elderly HF patients have multiple comorbidities, and often have difficulty adhering to complex therapeutic, pharmacologic,s and dietary plans of care. Nonadherence to the therapeutic regimen can lead to disease exacerbation and hospital readmissions. The purpose of this paper is to describe an evidence-based telephone intervention program using senior nursing students. Implementation: Review of literature shows that the high hospital readmission rates for heart failure patients can be decreased by various inpatient and outpatient healthcare interventions. Students in the telephone intervention program were second-semester seniors in their final clinical rotation before graduation. They were assigned to care for two patients with heart failure in their homes over a period of 14 weeks. A detailed evidence-based telephone protocol was developed to guide students in their care of the clients. Students kept clinical journals that documented patient interactions and outcomes (readmission, emergency room and clinic visits)and in addition several instruments were used to gather quantitative data (The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure (LIhFE), Problem rating scale of outcomes based on Omaha System and Quality of Life Scale). Conclusion: The quantitative results of the study will be presented. Benefits from this experience for both patients and students will also be discussed briefly.