Home-based nursing interventions improve knowledge of disease and management in patients with heart failure

OBJECTIVE:

to assess patient knowledge of heart failure by home-based measurement of two NOCNursing Outcomes over a six-month period and correlate mean outcome indicatorscores with mean scores of a heart failure Knowledge Questionnaire.

METHODS:

in this before-and-after study, patients with heart failure received four homevisits over a six-month period after hospital discharge. At each home visit,nursing interventions were implemented, NOC outcomes were assessed, and theKnowledge Questionnaire was administered.

RESULTS:

overall, 23 patients received home visits. Mean indicator scores for the outcomeKnowledge: Medication were 2.27±0.14 at home visit 1 and 3.55±0.16 at home visit 4(P<0.001); and, for the outcome Knowledge: Treatment Regimen, 2.33±0.13 at homevisit 1 and 3.59±0.14 at home visit 4 (P<0.001). The correlation between theKnowledge Questionnaire and the Nursing Outcomes Classification scores was strongat home visit 1 (r=0.7, P<0.01), but weak and non significant at visit 4.

CONCLUSION:

the results show improved patient knowledge of heart failure and a strongcorrelation between Nursing Outcomes Classification indicator scores and KnowledgeQuestionnaire scores. The NOC Nursing Outcomes proved effective as knowledgeassessment measures when compared with the validated instrument.