The development of a telephone follow-up intervention for adult patients after cardiac surgery

Background: Hospital re-admission among adult patients after cardiac surgery remains high with an estimated rate of 18.7% in the United States and in Canada (Iribarne et. al., 2014). This results in additional healthcare costs and poor patient hospital experience. Although there are limited studies in the benefits of telephone follow-up in cardiac surgery, the development of this type intervention can potentially improve patient outcomes. Purpose: The main goal of this practicum project was to develop a telephone follow-up intervention for adult patients after cardiac surgery following discharge from the hospital from the Cardiac Surgery Department of Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, Ontario. Methods: An integrated literature review and key stakeholder consultations were completed to help determine the content and structure of the telephone follow-up intervention. Results: The telephone follow-up intervention will involve a registered nurse (RN) performing a telephone call to the eligible patients who meet an inclusion criterion/criteria 10 days after discharge from the hospital. In addition, this practicum project includes a Telephone Follow-up Toolkit, which was created for the nursing staff, and a Telephone Follow-up Intervention after Cardiac Surgery form, which will be used for the patient interview and the documentation of information during the telephone follow-up. Conclusion: The implementation of this practicum project will assist improve the outcome and delivery of cardiac surgery services in the supporting agency. It is recommended that a pilot should be conducted for one to two months to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of this intervention