Self-care in Heart Failure Hospital Discharge Instructions—Differences Between Nurse Practitioner and Physician Providers

Daniel David, Elizabeth Howard, Joanne Dalton, Lorraine Britting

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Patients with heart failure (HF) are at risk for frequent readmission potentially due to self-care deficits. Medical doctors (MDs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) both provide discharge instructions. However, each type of provider may emphasize different elements of care. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the content of the documentation of 50 discharge instructions of heart failure patients written by NPs and MDs. Compared with MDs, NPs placed greater emphasis on symptom identification, and were more likely to advise and schedule follow-up appointments with primary care and cardiology providers rather than advising an appointment was needed without scheduling one.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)18-25
Number of pages8
JournalJournal for Nurse Practitioners
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2018

Keywords

  • discharge instructions
  • heart failure
  • nurse practitioner
  • self-care

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Advanced and Specialized Nursing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Self-care in Heart Failure Hospital Discharge Instructions—Differences Between Nurse Practitioner and Physician Providers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this