Reducing 30 Day Readmissions For African Americans With Congestive Heart Failure

A healthcare disparity is a limitation of healthcare availability, usually among a certain racial or socioeconomic demographic (Black, 2013). However, there are disparities that don’t have a specific demographic and affect the entirety of the United States, which are potentially most detrimental to the overall health of our country. One of those disparities is health literacy, or the exchange of complex information from the healthcare provider to the patient or client (Black, 2013). The lack of health literacy in America poses as a problem, especially with the chronically ill. Without proper knowledge of how to treat their illness and what to do when the disease process worsens or ameliorates can potentially cause millions of unnecessary hospitalizations,

Heart Failure is a progressive heart disease when the muscle of the heart is weakened so that it cannot pump blood as it should; the blood backs up into the blood vessels around the lungs and the other parts of the body (NHS Choice, 2015). In heart failure, the heart is not able to maintain a normal range cardiac output to meet the metabolic needs of the body (Kemp and Conte, 2012). Heart failure is a major worldwide public health problem, it is the end stage of heart disease and it could lead to high mortality. At present, heart failure is usually associated with old age, given the dramatic increase in the population of older people (ACCF/AHA, 2013). In the USA, there are about 5.7 million adults who have heart failure, about half of the people die within 5 years of diagnosis, and it costs the nation an estimated $30.7 billion each year (ACCF/AHA, 2013).

“One in nine deaths in 2009 included heart failure as a contributing cause. About half of the people who develop heart failure die within 5 years of diagnosis” (Heart Failure Fact Sheet). “Researchers have proven that African-Americans are at an increased risk of congestive heart failure. This is due to diabetes and high blood pressure, rather than race alone”. “There is no cure for heart failure. Treatments are used to relieve symptoms of CHF and try to prevent any further damage. The exact plan to help the patient depends on the stage and the type of heart failure the patient has”

Heart Failure affects nearly 5.8 million people in the United States. The American Heart Association reports that the total economic cost of heart disease and stroke in 2011 was $320.1 billion. ("Efforts to Prevent Heart," 2015). More Medicare dollars are spent for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure than for any other diagnosis (Schneider, O'Donnell, & Dean, 2011). Hospital admissions for heart failure are very common, especially among Medicare aged patients, and heart failure hospital readmissions are a major contributor to rising healthcare costs. Evidence suggests that factors influencing readmission rates for heart failure patients include knowledge deficits in nursing education, standardized patient education, and transitional

Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65. Roughly 550,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year (Emory Healthcare, 2014). Heart failure is a pathologic state where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the demand of the body’s metabolic needs or when the ventricle’s ability to fill is impaired. It is not a disease, but rather a complex clinical syndrome. The symptoms of heart failure come from pulmonary vascular congestion and inadequate perfusion of the systemic circulation. Individuals experience orthopnea,

My phenomenon of interest is: The effect of health promotion on the outcome of African- American heart failure patients. Heart failure is fast becoming prevalent among African -Americans due to high incidence of CAD and hypertension. African Americans have the highest mortality rates from chronic diseases. Evidence depicts health promotion as vital to the outcome of heart failure patients. The role of nursing in health promotion has been shown to promote positive outcomes such as adherence, knowledge of illness and improved quality of life. There is a need to decrease readmission and mortality rates in African American heart failure

Providing patients diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure effective teaching can eliminate reoccurring hospitalizations. Patients are discharged with CHF and readmitted within 30 days. The information provided will examine the process of enhancing patient knowledge and provide additional resources essential for effective health care management. Research evidence provides data that proves patients who are diagnosed with CHF needs a variety of health care needs during admission and after discharge. The proposal will display an evaluation plan, implementation plan and a dissemination of the

Congestive Heart Failure, also known as "cardiac decompensation, cardiac insufficiency, and cardiac incompetence," (Basic Nursing 1111) is an imbalance in pump function in which the heart is failing and unable to do its work pumping enough blood to meet the needs of the body's other organs. To some people, heart failure is defined as a sudden and complete stoppage of heart activity—i.e. that the heart just stops beating. This is an inaccuracy. Heart failure usually develops slowly, often over years, as the heart gradually loses its pumping ability and works less efficiently. CHF is a syndrome that affects individuals in different ways and to different degrees. It is usually a chronic disease. It gradually

Risk factors play a role to cause congestive heart failure, but if having more than one of the risk factors, it increases one's risk. According to Daniel lee Kulick and Benjamin Wedro, Congestive heart failure is often a consequence of atherosclerotic heart disease and therefore the risk factors are the same. Poorly controlled high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and family history are all contributors to being a risk factor of congestive heart failure. Heart valve disease becomes a risk factor of the patient throughout the years. Other causes of heart failure have their own set of risk factors and preferences and it becomes problem to those diseases.

Congestive Heart Failure is when the heart's pumping power is weaker than normal. It does not mean the heart has stopped working. The blood moves through the heart and body at a slower rate, and pressure in the heart increases. This means; the heart cannot pump enough oxygen and nutrients to meet the body's needs. The chambers of the heart respond by stretching to hold more blood to pump through the body or by becoming more stiff and thickened. This only keeps the blood moving for a short while. The heart muscle walls weaken and are unable to pump as strongly. This makes the kidneys respond by causing the body to retain fluid and sodium. When the body builds up with fluids, it becomes congested. Many conditions can cause heart

As one of the most frequent hospital discharge diagnosis in the elderly, the cost of heart failure on Medicare expenditures toped over $39 billion in 2010 (Warden, Freels, Furuno, & Mackay, 2014). For over 25 years, there have been studies looking at the number of readmissions of geriatric heart failure

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes too weak to maintain an adequate cardiac output to meet the body’s

A great amount of time, money and resource is devoted to improving the transition to home from hospital in the heart failure patient (Qaddoura, Ashoori, Kabali, Thabane, Haynes, Connolly & Spall, 2015). With extensive research available on heart failure and readmission, this study will focus on four main categories. This four category approach allows the clinician to best formulate and prepare for practice in the outpatient setting. The four categories will include various articles based upon evidenced based practice approaches with ultimate goal of reducing admission by implementing successful outpatient care. The four categories are as follows: Frequent monitoring or reporting to the PCP; Medication and Diet compliance; Predictors of

Failure of heart does not mean that the heart is not functional anymore. It rather means that pumping power of the heart has gone weaker than normal or the elasticity of heart has reduced. With failure of heart, blood flows from the pumping chambers of heart less effectively and pressure within heart increases thus making it harder for heart to deliver nutrients and oxygen to our body.

Congestive heart failure is a chronic disease that requires daily monitoring and life style management. Affecting the elderly, and their family the adjustment is a challenge. Daily life skills include the monitoring of daily weights, intake and output, and a low sodium diet. The person with congestive heart failure is generally admitted to the hospital for medication adjustments when their symptoms increase. The patient is often times short of breath, with a decrease in energy and an increase in their weight. The patients are generally elderly 60-65 years of age or older, and when comparing African Americans to Caucasians the African Americans have a 1.5 greater chance of developing heart failure ("Heart Failure," 2017). The