Assessing the outcomes of a home nursing programme: previously hospitalized versus non-hospitalized patients

This study utilizes four outcome measures to compare the success of a home nursing programme on a group of patients previously hospitalized and a non-hospitalized group. The outcome measures are: mortality, stabilization, hospitalization and nursing home confinement at discharge from the programme. No significant differences were found between the groups, except for nursing home confinement which was higher for the non-hospitalized group. The relationships remained the same even when age and functional status were considered as alternative hypotheses. Implications of this study suggest that home nursing programmes are likely to be as successful with previously hospitalized, as they are with non-hospitalized, patients. Secondly, in evaluating the impact of home nursing programmes on patients, the potential stabilizing influence of the hospital must be taken into account before examining the programme in isolation.