However , there were no consistent relationships observed between intervention characteristics and the effects of interventions .
Most trials review ed demonstrated a beneficial impact of nursing interventions for secondary prevention in patients with CAD or heart failure .
OBJECTIVE This systematic review of recent r and omized trials was conducted to determine if cardiovascular nursing interventions improve outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease ( CAD ) and /or heart failure .
Lack of improvement of clinical outcomes by a low-cost, hospital-based heart failure management programme
Objective Heart failure ( HF ) is a major health problem result ing in a high financial burden for the healthcare system . Many previous HF management programmes reduced adverse clinical outcomes and costs , but they usually involved several professional figures as well as huge investments , requiring re sources and budgets not often available in our healthcare system . We evaluated the effects of our HF management programme , which included patient education and regular outpatient contact with the HF team , on re-hospitalisation and death , optimising the few re sources already available at our hospital . Methods Two hundred consecutive patients admitted to the internal medicine department with a diagnosis of HF were r and omised to the intervention group ( nurse-led education programme , facilitated telephone communication and follow-up visits with an internist at 15 days , 1 and 6 months ) or to the usual care group ( follow-up by their primary care physician ) . The primary endpoints were all-cause readmissions and all-cause deaths during the 6-month post-discharge period . Results There were 81 all-cause hospital readmissions in the intervention group and 82 in the control group ( P = NS ) . Fourteen patients ( 14 % ) in the intervention group and eight patients ( 8 % ) in the control group died during the study period ( P = NS ) . Unplanned outpatient visits were less frequent in the intervention group than in the control group ( 39 [ 28 % ] versus 99 [ 72 % ] , P < 0.001 ) . Conclusions The present low-cost HF management programme reduced unplanned outpatient visits but proved ineffective in reducing subsequent readmissions and in improving clinical status . More intense follow-up monitoring and more re sources are needed to achieve better results
However , there were no consistent relationships observed between intervention characteristics and the effects of interventions .
Most trials review ed demonstrated a beneficial impact of nursing interventions for secondary prevention in patients with CAD or heart failure .
OBJECTIVE This systematic review of recent r and omized trials was conducted to determine if cardiovascular nursing interventions improve outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease ( CAD ) and /or heart failure .