Optimization of Heart Failure Patients Discharge Plan in Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center: An Action Research.

The quantitative evaluation had no control group or randomisation; it compared the same 23 patients before and after the plan. Only 23 patients were evaluated, all from one hospital, so the results may not apply elsewhere. The discharge plan bundled patient education, telephone follow-up, home visits, a symptom and medication booklet, emergency cards and a free phone line, so the effect of any single component cannot be separated. The researcher was a nurse at the study hospital and facilitated the project, which may introduce bias in planning, delivery and evaluation. The follow-up was 30 days and 3 months, so longer-term readmission and self-care effects are not shown.

The supplied article text does not report funding or conflicts of interest; the researcher was a nurse at the study hospital and facilitated the project.

Do not read this as proof that nurse education, phone calls or home visits alone reduce heart failure hospitalizations. The changes came from a bundled action-research plan delivered to 23 patients with no control group, so the contribution of each component cannot be separated.