Abstract:
Heart failure affects four to five million Americans and is a growing health care problem (Bosworth et al., 2004). This disease not only affects patients’ quality of life, but has significant financial implications related to multiple hospital admissions associated with disease management. The purpose of this study will be to evaluate the effectiveness of nurse case management on health care outcomes of heart failure patients. This is a replication of Hodgen, Ferguson, Davis, and White’s (2002) study. The organizing framework is self-care theory (Orem, Taylor, & Renpenning, 1991). A random sample of 100 patients over the age of 65 and hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of heart failure at Parkview Memorial hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana will be included in the study. Medical records data will be collected from patients who received case management services and patients who did not receive case management services. Hospital readmissions will be measured dichotomously. Patient satisfaction with case management services will be measured with questions derived from the Picker/Commonwealth Hospitalization Satisfaction Survey. The findings will provide valuable information on how nurse case management influences the health care outcomes for heart failure patients regarding length of stay (LOS) and hospital readmissions.
