Hospital Readmission Rates Among The Elderly Essay

Hospital readmission rates among the elderly are steadily becoming a growing topic of concern. Robinson, Esquivel, and Vlahov (2012) describe readmission or re-hospitalization as a return to the hospital shortly after discharge from a recent hospital stay (p. 338). The elderly, defined as 60 years of age and older, account for the highest hospital readmission rates in comparison to other age groups (Robinson, Esquivel, Vlahov, 2012). With medical advances, life expectancy is on the rise, which means older people will have more comorbidities and consequently be required to take more medications for symptom management. Generally when a person takes anywhere from two-nineteen medications, the term polypharmacy is introduced (Pasina et al., 2014). In hospital settings polypharmacy is not an issue because there are nurses and medical providers to address questions and concerns, administer medications, and monitor a patient for potential adverse effects. However, once discharge occurs, t his patient is left to juggle all aspects of their care on their own. A plan of care formulated to improve the elderly population s quality of life outside of the hospital, speaks to one of the Institute of Medicine s (IOM) core competencies, applying quality improvement. Apply Quality Improvement Applying quality improvement has been recognized as one of the Institute of Medicine s (IOM) core competencies. This competency serves to continually understand and measure quality of care inShow MoreRelatedOutcomes Management of Nursing Essay1567 Words   |  7 PagesMeasurement and Data Management Project: Hospital Readmissions Charmein Garner and Celeste Thomas Loyola University New Orleans Outcomes Management Project Defined Issue or Problem of Interest The selected problem of interest is hospital readmissions after being discharged from hospitals/medical facilities. 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