Reducing hospital inpatient length of stay for patients with diabetes. |
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Authors: | D A Cavan P Hamilton J Everett D Kerr |
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Affiliation: | Bournemouth Diabetes and Endocrine Centre, Bournemouth, UK. david.cavan@rbch-tr.swest.nhs.uk |
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Abstract: | AIMS: To ascertain the effect of routine review by a diabetes nurse advisor on length of stay for medical and surgical inpatients with diabetes. METHODS: Inpatients with diabetes were identified prospectively from January 1997 until December 1998 (792 in 1997 and 819 in 1998). A new post of diabetes nurse advisor was introduced in January 1998 to optimize diabetes management. Length of stay was calculated retrospectively from hospital computer records. RESULTS: Median length of stay in 1997 was 11 days in medicine and 8 days in surgery. In 1998, the nurse advisor made 1936 visits to 819 patients; median length of stay fell to 8 days in medicine and 5 days in surgery (P < 0.001). Bed occupancy by patients with diabetes fell from 6.8 to 4.0%. Mean length of stay across the hospital remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of a ward-based diabetes nurse advisor was associated with significant reductions in length of stay in inpatients with diabetes. Since this study was not a randomized study, other factors may have contributed to this change. However, the consistency of the reduction across specialities suggests the post itself had an important effect. |
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Keywords: | diabetes hospital admission length of stay |
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