Specialist Nurse-Led Intervention in Outpatients with Congestive Heart Failure

Abstract

Congestive heart failure (CHF) encompasses a spectrum of clinical syndromes and presentations. It affects 1–2% of the population in the UK and is associated with significant mortality which is comparable to most cancers. It accounts for more than 5% of adult medical admissions in the UK, with significant annual re-admission rates. Improved understanding of the pathophysiology of CHF has resulted in significant advancements in CHF management. Current pharmacologic agents, such as ACE inhibitors, β-adrenoceptor antagonists and spironolactone, influence symptoms and improve mortality. Despite this, many patients still require hospitalization. Multiple, potentially reversible factors are involved which, if addressed effectively, may result in significant reductions in re-admission rates. Patients with CHF often have other conditions, such as respiratory disease, resulting in prolonged lengths of stay. Suboptimal care and failure to adhere to management guidelines is also a preventable cause for re-admission. There has been an increasing need to develop adjunctive, non-pharmacologic strategies for managing CHF, which are designed to improve the patient’s functional status and quality of life. Key elements include systematic follow-up care and patient education. The concept of intensive outpatient or home-based CHF intervention has been developed and extensively evaluated in several randomized controlled trials. Early studies were inconclusive but provided an indication that discharge planning and home-based education are valuable strategies. Recently, an increasing number of studies utilizing the CHF nurse practitioner have provided positive results for non-pharmacologic intervention and demonstrate the potential of these interventions to reduce admissions to hospital by up to 50%. These studies had specific inclusion criteria and could not be generalized to the CHF population as a whole. The Study to Evaluate the effectiveness of Nurse-led Intervention in the management of outpatients with heart Failure (SENIF) explored whether a similar approach to CHF management was beneficial in a typical outpatient population of patients with CHF. Over 12 months, fewer intervention group patients required admission, resulting in 69% fewer hospital days. Cost effectiveness of nurse-led intervention has been suggested in several studies including SENIF, resulting from reduced hospitalizations and re-admissions, which vastly outweighed the modest increase in expenditure required to run the programs. Hospitalizations because of CHF impact greatly on limited healthcare resources. Specialist nurse-led intervention in CHF is a cost-effective, non-pharmacological strategy to help optimize CHF management.