Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit

Background - Improved discharge planning and extension of care to the general care unit for patients transferring from intensive care may prevent readmission to the intensive care unit and prolonged hospital stays. Morbidity, mortality, and costs increase in readmitted intensive care patients. Objec...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Williams, Teresa, Leslie, Gavin, Finn, J., Brearley, L., Asthifa, M., Hay, B., Laurie, K., Leen, T., O'Brien, K., Stuart, M., Watt, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Association of Critical Care Nurses 2010
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34313
_version_ 1848754189056868352
author Williams, Teresa
Leslie, Gavin
Finn, J.
Brearley, L.
Asthifa, M.
Hay, B.
Laurie, K.
Leen, T.
O'Brien, K.
Stuart, M.
Watt, M.
author_facet Williams, Teresa
Leslie, Gavin
Finn, J.
Brearley, L.
Asthifa, M.
Hay, B.
Laurie, K.
Leen, T.
O'Brien, K.
Stuart, M.
Watt, M.
author_sort Williams, Teresa
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background - Improved discharge planning and extension of care to the general care unit for patients transferring from intensive care may prevent readmission to the intensive care unit and prolonged hospital stays. Morbidity, mortality, and costs increase in readmitted intensive care patients. Objectives - To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a critical care nursing outreach service in facilitating discharge from the intensive care unit and providing follow-up in general care areas. Methods - A before-and-after study design (with historical controls and a 6-month prospective intervention) was used to ascertain differences in clinical outcomes, length of stay, and cost/benefit. Patients admitted to intensive care units in 3 adult teaching hospitals were recruited. The service centered on follow-up visits by specialist intensive care nurses who reviewed and assessed patients who were to be or had been discharged to general care areas from the intensive care unit. Those nurses also provided education and clinical support to staff in general care areas.Results - In total, 1435 patients were discharged during the 6-month prospective period. Length of stay from the time of admission to the intensive care unit to hospital discharge (P = .85), readmissions during the same hospital admission (5.6% vs 5.4%, P = .83), and hospital survival (P = .80) did not differ from before to after the intervention. Conclusions - Although other studies have shown beneficial outcomes in Australia and the United Kingdom, we found no improvement in length of stay after admission to the intensive care unit, readmission rate, or hospital mortality after a critical care nursing outreach service was implemented.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:36:27Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-34313
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:36:27Z
publishDate 2010
publisher American Association of Critical Care Nurses
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-343132017-09-13T15:53:32Z Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit Williams, Teresa Leslie, Gavin Finn, J. Brearley, L. Asthifa, M. Hay, B. Laurie, K. Leen, T. O'Brien, K. Stuart, M. Watt, M. Background - Improved discharge planning and extension of care to the general care unit for patients transferring from intensive care may prevent readmission to the intensive care unit and prolonged hospital stays. Morbidity, mortality, and costs increase in readmitted intensive care patients. Objectives - To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a critical care nursing outreach service in facilitating discharge from the intensive care unit and providing follow-up in general care areas. Methods - A before-and-after study design (with historical controls and a 6-month prospective intervention) was used to ascertain differences in clinical outcomes, length of stay, and cost/benefit. Patients admitted to intensive care units in 3 adult teaching hospitals were recruited. The service centered on follow-up visits by specialist intensive care nurses who reviewed and assessed patients who were to be or had been discharged to general care areas from the intensive care unit. Those nurses also provided education and clinical support to staff in general care areas.Results - In total, 1435 patients were discharged during the 6-month prospective period. Length of stay from the time of admission to the intensive care unit to hospital discharge (P = .85), readmissions during the same hospital admission (5.6% vs 5.4%, P = .83), and hospital survival (P = .80) did not differ from before to after the intervention. Conclusions - Although other studies have shown beneficial outcomes in Australia and the United Kingdom, we found no improvement in length of stay after admission to the intensive care unit, readmission rate, or hospital mortality after a critical care nursing outreach service was implemented. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34313 10.4037/ajcc2010965 American Association of Critical Care Nurses unknown
spellingShingle Williams, Teresa
Leslie, Gavin
Finn, J.
Brearley, L.
Asthifa, M.
Hay, B.
Laurie, K.
Leen, T.
O'Brien, K.
Stuart, M.
Watt, M.
Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit
title Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit
title_full Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit
title_fullStr Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit
title_full_unstemmed Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit
title_short Clinical Effectiveness of a Critical Care Nursing Outreach Service in Facilitating Discharge From the Intensive Care Unit
title_sort clinical effectiveness of a critical care nursing outreach service in facilitating discharge from the intensive care unit
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34313