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Heart Failure Nurse Education
Nurses play a key role in providing acute inpatient and outpatient care for patients with heart failure care. Thus, optimizing their knowledge and skill in heart failure care promotes CHF QUERI's goals of reduced readmissions and improved outcomes for veterans with heart failure.
In January 2012 an educational conference for nurses was held with the combined efforts of the CHF QUERI and the Palo Alto VA. It was titled "Nursing in Heart Failure: Diagnosis, Therapeutics and Models of Care". Purpose of this conference was to provide evidence-based education on the essentials of heart failure disease management in the inpatient and outpatient settings.
This conference was planned based on the learning from a needs assessment survey completed by unit-based nursing staff in ambulatory care, emergency department, acute inpatient medical-surgical, and intensive care units at the Palo Alto VA. These nurses reported substantial need for education in a broad range of topic areas in the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure, as well as teaching of heart failure self-care knowledge and skills to veterans and their caregivers.
The above findings shaped the learning objectives for this conference which are listed below in the table along with the corresponding slides and presenter information. Post conference evaluations showed that 70% of the attendees were RNs, 44% of the attendees felt the course content was "just right" and 86% will recommend the conference content to a colleague. One of the nurses commented "very useful for understanding how to manage CHF + mostly how to educate patients about the ways to improve greatly ".
**The slides files are PDF format.
Learning Objective | Slides | Presenter |
| Review trends in heart failure care, readmissions and mortality at the VA and outside the VA. | Burden of Heart Failure | Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS CHF QUERI Director |
| Identify pharmacologic treatment options for HF. | Medications for Heart Failure | Kelly K. Baptiste, Pharm D Clinical Pharmacist Specialist |
| Practice effective teaching strategies; list six required elements of discharge instructions for HF patients. | Health Literacy and Teach-Back | Rosemary M. Gill, RN, MS, CDE Veterans Health Education Coordinator |
| Explain key features of HF pathophysiology. | What is Heart Failure? Pathophysiology and Symptoms | Svetlana Gorbunova, RNP, MSN Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program |
| Identify quality indicators for HF treatment. | Process Improvement for Heart Failure Patient | Paul Helgerson, MD Associate Chief of Staff, Process Improvement |
| Review the incidence, prevalence and social and economic impact of HF in the VA, state, nation and globally. | The Impact of CHF on the Healthcare Industry, the Nation, and the World | Nancy Oliva, PhD, MHA, MPA, RN Special Fellowship Program in Advanced Geriatrics |
| Review the role of heart transplant, ventricular assist devices and palliative care in the management of advanced HF treatment. | Advanced Heart Failure: What next? | Michael Pham, M.D., M.P.H. Medical Director Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Program |
| Review symptoms of worsening HF and identify elements of patient-centered disease self-care management | Using (G)uidelines, (A)ccess to Care and (P)atient-Centered Care for Self Care Management | Susan Quaglietti RN, MSN, ANP Cardiology Comprehensive Care |