HSLS Update

Recovery of Coronary Bypass Patients

Impact of an Information Intervention

In April 2002, James Frazer Hillman Health Sciences Library, UPMC Shadyside at UPMC Shadyside teamed with clinicians to enhance postoperative education for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients. Each patient was given an informational videotape to be viewed at home during recovery to supplement printed patient education material, which included a booklet and discharge instructions.

One year later, the impact of the program was evaluated by sending out nearly 400 surveys to videotape recipients. A total of 147 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 37 percent. The mean patient age was 66.8 years. Of the respondents, 96 percent watched the videotape. Patients acquired knowledge from the tape, with 88 percent finding that it added or reinforced knowledge. Almost all (92 percent) felt the tape helped them in the recovery process to some degree (51 percent very helpful, 32 percent somewhat helpful, nine percent a little helpful). Most respondents (84 percent) found that the video answered questions they would have otherwise called to ask their doctor.

Was the video helpful in your recovery process?

Did you acquire/reinforce knowledge from the video?

Did the video provide answers to questions you would have otherwise called to ask your doctor?

Nurses frequently have the primary responsibility for patient teaching, yet have less time to teach patients in the managed care environment. Concurrently, earlier patient discharges are shifting the burden of care to families. With this videotape program, patients receive more instruction without more clinician time. Circulation and reuse of the tapes enhance cost effectiveness, and patients benefit from the library’s educational resources. Surveys are now distributed simultaneously with the tape, and it will be possible to compare the results over time.

A poster about the project was displayed at UPMC Shadyside libraries Quality Fair, and a presentation was made by invitation to the Quality Management Committee. The project was awarded a certificate for “Outstanding Achievement in Quality Improvement.”

Discharge education must take into account the complexity of the post-hospitalization experience. This instructional videotape facilitates patients’ transitions from hospital to home to independent self-care. Patients can adjust and recover in their own homes and at their own pace.

--Michele Klein Fedyshin