Effects of Community Nursing Intervention on Readmission and Quality of Life for Elderly Patients with Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Disease

Objective To explore the effect of community nursing intervention on the readmission,fatality rate and quality of life(QOL) for elderly patients with chronic obstruction pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods From January 2008 to January 2009,76 elderly hospitalized patients with COPD were randomly divided into intervention group(n=38) and control group(n=38).The control group were given the routine nursing intervention during hospitalization.The intervention group were given prehospital face-to-face nursing interventions and after-discharge phone-call ones,including giving up smoking,psychology supporting,absorbing oxygen intervention,breathing function exercising,nutrition intervention and symptom distinguishing.Comparisons were conducted on the readmission times,hospital stay of readmission,readmission rate,fatality rate and QOL between the two groups six months after discharge.Results The hospital days and times of readmission of the intervention group were significantly less than those of the control group;the readmission rate in the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group;the scores of all dimensions of QOL in the intervention group were significantly lower than those of the control group(P0.05 or P0.01).Conclusion Comprehensive community nursing intervention can enhance patients' awareness of disease and contribute to better nursing cooperation between patients and nurses,thus reducing the symptoms and acute episodes,helping reduce medical expenditure and improving patients' QOL.