Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Implementing A Discharge Navigator Reducing 30-Day Readmissions For Heart Failure And Sepsis Populations, Karen Weeks

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Clinical Projects, 2016-2019

A national focus for healthcare reform is preventing hospital readmissions. Thirty-day unplanned hospital readmissions impact patient outcomes and are costly to the healthcare system. This project explored the impact between the discharge navigator and 30-day unplanned readmissions for heart failure and sepsis populations in a 238-bed community hospital located in central Virginia. The primary aim of this discharge navigator project was to reduce 30-day readmissions for the heart failure and sepsis populations to meet the goals of the top quartile for like hospitals and the evaluation of cost avoidance for these readmissions. Heart failure and sepsis populations are high risks …

An Evaluation Of A Pilot Inpatient Hospice Unit And The Impact It Has On End-Of-Life Care At An Academic Medical Center, Cynthia Minetree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Final Clinical Projects, 2016-2019

Background: Research shows that acute care hospitals with inpatient hospice units have an increase in hospice resource utilization and provide end-of-life care that is more aligned with patients’ end-of-life goals compared to hospitals that do not have inpatient hospice units.

Methods: A pilot six-bed General Inpatient (GIP) hospice unit was implemented at an acute care hospital, located in Washington, D.C., to provide hospice care for patients that were not able to transfer to another inpatient setting for hospice care. A six-month evaluation of the pilot GIP hospice unit was done to evaluate the feasibility of the unit and the impact …