Care of the Patient With Left Ventricular Assist Device in the Emergency Department: A Bundled Care Approach

Patients with left ventricular assist devices are a high-risk, low-volume patient population with up to 72% admission rates. This project aimed to enhance emergency staff knowledge and reduce the door-to-consult times for patients with left ventricular assist devices presenting to the emergency department by implementing a bundled care approach.

To better support patients with left ventricular assist devices, the project team collaborated with emergency clinical staff to implement a comprehensive care bundle. This included a clear pathway for patients with left ventricular assist devices upon arrival to the emergency department, targeted education for clinical staff (with pre- and post-education survey), and a transportation checklist for admission cases. Data were collected and analyzed using SAS Statistics to summarize the results and improve patient outcomes.

Patients with left ventricular assist devices experienced significant improvements in care after the implementation of this care bundle. After education, patients benefited from increased staff confidence, better identification of alarms, and improved access to educational resources. The bundle approach also dramatically reduced the time it took for patients with left ventricular assist devices to see the advanced heart failure team in the emergency department, decreasing door-to-consult times from 245 minutes to just 35 minutes.

A bundled care approach for patients with left ventricular assist devices in the emergency department improves care by decreasing door-to-consult and increasing the staff's knowledge in this patient population.