Exploring heart failure nurse practitioner outcome measures: a scoping review

Clinical guidelines recommend people with heart failure are managed within a multidisciplinary team to receive optimal evidence-based management of the syndrome. There is increasing evidence that Nurse Practitioners (NP) in heart failure demonstrate positive patient outcomes. However, their roles as key stakeholders in a multidisciplinary heart failure team are not clearly defined. The aim of the review was to explore the literature related to NP-sensitive outcomes in heart failure.

A scoping review was conducted according to accepted guidelines using the Joanna Briggs Institute framework for conducting a scoping review, to identify the literature that related to NP-sensitive outcomes in heart failure management. Sixteen texts were selected for data extraction and analysis. The most common outcome measures reported were readmission rates, self-care measurement scales, functional status scores, quality of life measurements, and medication optimization outcomes. No two studies collected or reported on the same outcome measurements.

This review highlights that the reporting of heart failure (HF) NP outcome indicators was inconsistent and disparate across the literature. The outcome measures reported were not exclusive to NP interventions. Nurse Practitioner roles are not clearly defined, and resulting outcomes from care are difficult to characterize. Standardized NP-specific outcome measures would serve to highlight the effectiveness of the role in a multidisciplinary HF team.