Date of Award
Fall 2018
Project Type
Clinical Doctorate
College or School
CHHS
Department
Nursing
Program or Major
Doctorate of Nursing Practice
Degree Name
Other
First Advisor
Raelene Shippee-Rice
Second Advisor
Joanne Samuels
Abstract
Background
There is a rising number of patients with chronic health conditions concurrent with an increasing number of hospital readmissions within 30 days and emergency department visits. Predominantly based in acute care facilities, palliative care services have been effective in improving the quality of life in patients with chronic health conditions. However, the largest population that could benefit from palliative care services is community based in the home setting.
Purpose
The purpose of this project was the implement and evaluate follow-up telephone calls made in addition to visiting nursing (VNA) services to detect in early decline in patients who have received in-patient palliative care services compared to a 12-month retrospective analysis of a mirror population.
Methods
Five telephone calls were made over a 30-day time frame using the palliative performance scale as the method of measurement to augment VNA services with an additional layer of monitoring for early detection of decline. A 12-month retrospective analysis of a mirror population was performed for baseline comparison. ER visits, 30-day hospital readmissions, hospice admissions, and hospice lengths of stay were the methods of outcome.
Results
One participant was included in the implement telephone calls for inconclusive results. While, the retrospective data populations of 45 patients accounted for 141 hospitalizations, 71 30-day readmissions, 65 ER visits, 15 hospice admissions, and an average hospice length of stay of 58.3 days.
Conclusions
Patients who receive palliative care services in the hospital would benefit from the extension of in-person palliative care into the home setting for better symptom management and advanced care planning to improve quality of care and outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Adams, Katherine, "Post Discharge Follow-up Telephone Calls for Patients who Received Hospital Based Palliative Care Services to Improve Quality of Care and Outcomes: A Pilot Study" (2018). DNP Scholarly Projects. 10.
https://scholars.unh.edu/scholarly_projects/10