Joan Breen, MD, Director of the Neurology Day Program at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital in Bradford, and Jeanne Andrusin, MSN-RN, ANP-BC, Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Coordinator of the Neurology Day Program, presented their abstract last week at the 2014 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference in San Diego. The abstract was titled “AHA Guidelines Nurse Practitioner Cardiovascular Risk Education Program Delivered in Outpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program Leads to Increased Independence with Medications, Self Blood Pressure Monitoring, Improved Blood Pressures, and Rehabilitations Outcomes.”
Their study concluded that patients showed readiness to learn and responded positively to Nurse Practitioner led education directed at medications, CV risk factors, and BP control.
They also concluded that Nurse Practitioner education and care delivered as part of an outpatient rehabilitation program led to improvements in:
- Blood pressure monitoring and recording
- Blood pressure control
- Independence with medication administration
- Multiple rehab outcomes
Keys to success included:
- Nurse Practitioner actively involved in the day to day operation of a community based rehabilitation program.
- Incorporating peer interactions and encouragement within small groups is a powerful motivator.
- Multidisciplinary services coordinated by a team at the rehabilitation site facilitate access for stroke patients to receive optimal care for specific problems in a timely manner.
- Dedicated interdisciplinary team members.
- Hospital wide support for the program.
The entire Whittier team involved in the study were:
Joan Breen, Jeanne Andrusin, Tom Ferlito, and Lauren Miller.
Download the poster of the abstract here.
