Hearing the Veteran's Voice in Congestive Heart Failure Readmissions

Carl W Stevenson¹, Daria Pori, Kattie Payne+2

• ¹Carl W. Stevenson, RN, BSN, has 23 years of experience as an RN in cardiac care, medical/surgical nursing, and quality improvement for local and national VA committees. He has been conducting research with patients with CHF for the past 5 years. He has presented a podium presentation and three poster presentations on this topic. Daria Pori, RD, DSO, is a registered dietitian with 23 years of experience helping people manage chronic diseases, including heart failure, with the appropriate medical nutrition therapy for their conditions. Kattie Payne, PhD, MSN, RN, has 42 years of experience as an RN in bedside nursing, family nurse clinician, health care administration, nursing education, and writing consumer education materials. Her passion is caring for those with diabetes or heart disease. Her dissertation focused on hospitalized patients taking cardiovascular drugs. Mary Black, RN, MSN, has 18 years of experience as an RN in medical surgical nursing, nurse educator, and nurse manager. She has worked with patients with CHF and helped them focus on disease management from admission diagnosis of CHF, inpatient care, CHF risks, symptoms, treatment, and lifestyle choices. Victoria E. Taylor, BSN, MSA, has 34 years of experience as an RN in several areas, including cardiac care, military nursing and maternity care. However, she currently works in Home Tele health at the Boise, VA, where a large portion of her patient caseload has congestive heart Failure.