The percentage of elderly patients who are rehospitalized for congestive heart failure (CHF) is on the rise, which leads to an overall increase in healthcare costs. Providing education about CHF to these patients prior to discharge from the hospital is one way to help decrease the number of hospital readmissions for this patient population. Symptoms can be better managed through outpatient office visits or telephonically if education is provided predischarge.

Discharge education is provided through the use of an algorithm. The clinical nurse specialist instructs patients on how to use this algorithm. Patients can follow the algorithm, which informs them what to do according to the presenting symptoms. This algorithm would be implemented on 10 adult individuals older than 30 who have been diagnosed with CHF and currently receiving care as an inpatient. Patient's knowledge of symptoms management will be tested with pretests and posttests, in addition to the education on the use of this algorithm.

Providing patients with information about their disease process improves outcomes and management of this disease process. Ultimately, this will reflect a decrease in readmissions and the overall cost of healthcare for patients with CHF. Testing of this algorithm will be completed at the time of this presentation. The use of this algorithm is expected to facilitate better symptom management and promote autonomy in patients with CHF.