The Heart Failure Unit at Juaneda Hospitals achieves a 75% reduction in patient rehospitalizations
The Heart Failure Unit (HFU) at Juaneda Hospitals, located in Juaneda Miramar Hospital, under the leadership of nurse Yolanda Guijarro, celebrates half a year with a record that includes improving the quality of life of its patients. This is evidenced by data showing that the percentage of readmissions has decreased from 100% to 25%, a drop of 75%.
Most patients with Heart Failure (HF) have reached this condition after suffering a myocardial infarction. This creates a significant emotional impact on both the patient and their family, and on health "which we at the HFU are managing to alleviate, by providing them with information and care that helps them understand they can have a very high quality of life."
"The monitoring of weight, arterial hypertension, water retention, or coronary constants," as well as "all the information these patients need and learn through us, in addition to the care and controls, is resulting in this 75% reduction in hospital readmissions."
Yolanda Guijarro, head of the HFU at Juaneda Hospitals, is realistic: "We cannot say that heart failure can be cured, but with proper care, many symptoms can be alleviated." And she adds: "If it weren't for this HFU and its multidisciplinary team, many of these patients would be as before, with crises and readmissions."
The HFU at Juaneda Hospitals consists of a team led by the nurse, with cardiologist Dr. Hugo del Castillo, nephrologist (due to renal complications) Dr. Raúl García, and Dr. Nuria Ribas, head of Internal Medicine at Juaneda Miramar, who makes many of the HF diagnoses in the Emergency Room.
"Before the implementation of the HFU," Yolanda Guijarro points out, "many patients were repeatedly readmitted and had a poor quality of life outside the hospital." Now, they have "direct access to the nurse, whether for a medication consultation or to manage some procedure, as well as the monthly consultation, which gives them great peace of mind."
Without this information and closeness, "many patients were afraid to engage in certain types of activities; now, by consulting us, those fears disappear, doubts are resolved, and they realize that having HF is not synonymous with death, but a situation they must adapt to, leading a practically normal life, with some caution."
The success of this Unit largely stems from the fact that "when a patient with HF comes to the nurse consultation, I don't just see them as a cardiac patient, but in a holistic, global way, monitoring their constants and referring them to the necessary specialist, which they greatly appreciate, but also taking care of many other human needs."
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