Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Maria Ojeda

Abstract

AbstractPatients who have had cardiac surgery may experience longer hospital stays and increased readmission rates when there is poor care coordination between patients, families, and the healthcare team. Poor care coordination leads to unclear expectations of each phase of care, decreased compliance with postoperative care regimen resulting in increased length of stay, patient and family dissatisfaction, and increased rates of readmission. This project evaluated a Cardiac Surgery Nurse Navigator (CSNN) Quality Improvement program to address care coordination and improve length of stay and readmission rates for cardiac surgery patients. The goal was to determine whether the CSNN program was effective in reducing the average hospital length of stay and 30-day readmission rates for patients admitted for cardiac surgery. The theoretical framework used to explain the phenomenon was the Meleis’ transitions theory. Data regarding length of stay and 30-day readmission rates 12 months prior to and 12 months after the implementation of the CSNN program were collected from the facility’s quality improvement department. The results indicated that the length of stay had a slight but nonsignificant decrease post-CSNN implementation, from 7.35 days to 7.03 days. A significant decrease (p = 0.040) in 30-day all-cause readmission rates were found, with a rate of 10.53% preimplementation and a rate of 5.85% postimplementation of the project. The results suggest that the CSNN program does decrease readmission rates in the cardiac surgery population and therefore provides financial efficiency for the organization and better compliance with postoperative care regimen for patients, keeping them in optimal health and function within their communities.

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