Background and purpose: Chronically ill patients 65 and above have an increased risk of preventable readmission within 30 days of discharge from the hospital. The Transitional Care Model (TCM) introduced by Naylor and colleagues was implemented to improve the transition between hospital and home while decreasing readmissions. This article examines whether nurse practitioner (NP)- led TCM interventions as compared to standard care decrease hospital readmission rates in older adults.
Methods: A literature review was conducted from June 2016 to March 2017 using Cochrane Library, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Health Literature (CINAHL) PLUS, Joanna Briggs Institute, and ProQuest Central to seek out the highest level of evidence. Search results were refined to focus on randomized control trials (RTCs) containing NP-led TCM interventions with older adults.
Conclusions: Synthesis of three RTCs, one meta-analysis, and four nonrandomized studies reviewed TCM interventions that included these interventions: follow-up phone calls post discharge, home visits, and handoff of information to the patient's primary care provider. These interventions, although not exclusively led by NPs, decreased hospital readmission rates.
Implications for practice: NP-led TCM interventions have the potential to decrease readmissions, but the level of evidence is insufficiently high to allow for generalizability, warranting further study.
Keywords: Nurse practitioner; advanced practice nurse; geriatrics; gerontology; hospital readmissions; nurse practitioner-led transition; transitional care.
©2017 American Association of Nurse Practitioners.