Heart Failure (HF) is responsible for more than one million hospitalizations each year with a related cost of thirty billion dollars in the United States alone. Additionally, patients with HF who are hospitalized have a 25% chance of being readmitted within 30 days of discharge. The complexities and challenges of managing HF increase the risk of hospitalization and subsequent readmission to the hospital for patients with a HF diagnosis. In the southwest (SW) region of Utah, there is a large elderly, retired and snowbird population. The SW region has one level 2-trauma center hospital with excellent cardiovascular services and the readmission rate at this facility is comparable to the national average. The facility utilizes a HF education program called MAWDS, an acronym for Medication, Activity, Weight, Diet, and Symptoms, documented only once by the registered nurse (RN). The objective of this project was to utilize the multidisciplinary team to provide and document HF education. This change was compared to the current method of HF education. The outcome measure data identified the difference in the number of patient HF education occurrences pre and post implementation.
