Nurse led transitional care improved health related quality of life and reduced emergency department use for heart failure
QUESTION: In patients admitted to hospital with heart failure, is nurse led transitional care more effective than usual care for improving health related quality of life and reducing use of health services?
Design
Randomised (allocation concealed), blinded {data collectors and data analysts},* controlled trial with follow up 12 weeks after hospital discharge.
Setting
A large urban teaching hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Patients
192 patients (mean age 76 y, 55% men) who were admitted to a general medical unit with congestive heart failure were included if they resided in the regional home care radius, expected to be discharged with home nursing care, were admitted for >24 hours to the nursing units, and were not cognitively impaired. Follow up was 82%.
Intervention
Patients were allocated to a nurse led transitional care intervention (n=92) or usual care (n=100). The nurse led transitional care intervention was implemented from admission to 2 weeks after hospital discharge and included usual care plus a comprehensive …
