Face-to-Face Nursing Promotion of Cardiac Rehabilitation

Practice Problem: The burden of cardiovascular disease is rising at global and national levels, and cardiac rehabilitation is recognized as one of the most beneficial and cost-effective strategies to manage it. One significant problem globally, nationally, and locally is the low numbers of eligible patients who enroll in cardiac rehabilitation. PICOT: In patients with isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) (P), how does face-to-face nursing promotion of cardiac rehabilitation (I) compared to the patients who do not have face-to-face nursing promotion (C), affect the percentage of patients enrolling in cardiac rehabilitation after discharge (O) within 8 weeks (T)? Evidence: The evidence used to guide this project included the need for a healthcare organization to have a systematic process for cardiac rehabilitation enrollment, face-to-face nursing promotion, improvement of the healthcare team’s knowledge about cardiac rehabilitation, and identification of patient barriers that hinder cardiac rehabilitation enrollment. Intervention: A systematic approach for cardiac rehabilitation was developed using the interprofessional team. After the healthcare team received standardized education, nurses in various roles provided face-to-face promotion, the ARNPs endorsed cardiac rehabilitation, and the care managers addressed barriers. Outcome: The cardiac rehabilitation enrollment rate increased by 16% among all patients admitted with an isolated CABG on the pilot unit. Conclusion: Implementation of face-to-face nursing promotion, ARNP endorsement, and reducing barriers were clinically significant in increasing the cardiac rehabilitation enrollment rate.