Effects of nurse-led clinical pathway in coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Aims and objectivesTo develop and evaluate the effects of a nurse-led clinical pathway for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. BackgroundA clinical pathway is a multidisciplinary care plan, based on evidence and guidelines to provide consistent, quality care to patients and improve outcomes. DesignProspective, quasi-experimental design. MethodsPatients hospitalised for coronary artery bypass graft between April 2014-November 2015 in a hospital in Turkey were studied. First 42 usual care patients were enrolled to determine outcomes and plan for the development of the clinical pathway followed by 40 patients in the newly developed clinical pathway. The primary outcome was length of stay and secondary outcomes related to recovery from surgery (e.g., time to extubation, first feeding). ResultsThe mean age for the clinical pathway group was 60 and for usual care was 63years. Most were male (CP=78%, UC=69%). There were significant differences between groups for the primary outcome. Length of stay in the intensive care unit was 38.9hr for CP and 50.7hr for usual care patients p<.01. Total hospital time was 144.4hr for clinical pathway and 162.2hr for usual care, p<.05. For secondary measures, the following times were less for the clinical pathway group than for the usual care: time to extubation and nasogastric tube removal (5.7 vs. 8.6hr, p<.01), first oral feeding (4.7 vs. 10.9hr, p<.001), first mobilisation (8.4 vs. 22.9hr, p<.001) and first bowel movement (69.8 vs. 85.9hr, p<.01). There were no statistically significant differences in the 3-month readmission rates and complication rates between the groups, except the renal complication rates were higher in the usual care (n=16, 38%) than in the clinical pathway (n=7, 17.5%) (p<.05). ConclusionThe nurse-led clinical pathway was effective in improving length of stay in both the ICU and hospital as well as the secondary outcomes. Relevance to clinical practiceThis study contributes to previous studies supporting clinical pathway use can improve the length of stay and quality of care in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.