Relationship between post-operative patient education and hospital readmission: A preliminary examination

Over a quarter of all heart surgery patients are readmitted to hospitals across Canada with post-operative complications experienced during the first 3 months of recovery. This may be due to the quality of existing patient education intervention. Specifically, the mode, episode, and timing of delivery of standard education programs may not be optimal in promoting self-care behaviours, resulting in the development of complications leading to increased hospital readmissions. The objectives of this preliminary descriptive study were twofold: 1) to describe the most consistent mode, episode, and timing in which education is provided to patients following heart surgery; and 2) to identify the degree to which the current educational mode and episode are correlated to readmission rates following hospital discharge. A non-experimental preliminary descriptive design was used to address the study objectives. Setting: Thirty-three patients were recruited from a cardiovascular surgical unit located within a large tertiary hospital. Method: Patients were included if they underwent heart surgery for the first time; were literate in English; cognitively oriented; and had access to a working phone at home. Point-biserial correlations were performed to identify the degree to which the characteristics of existing patient education were correlated to hospital readmission rates. Results: A statistically significant inverse relationship between episode and hospital readmission (rpb = - .49, p = .001) was noted suggesting that with reduced exposure to patient education, there is an increased likelihood for hospital readmissions. Conclusion: Increasing the number of times education is provided may reduce the number of hospital readmissions.