RN Continuity in Home Health: Does It Make a Difference?

Abstract

Continuity of care in home health is valued but poorly understood. This article is about the delivery of nursing care to elderly home health patients and to determine if visits provided by the same RN improve selected “Outcome and Assessment Information Set” outcomes. Functional status, psychological status, and use of emergent care were examined. Cases selected represented individuals aged 65 years and older, with at least one chronic illness and a good prognosis. Patients received four or more visits from the same RN.The clinical and administrative billing records from an initial 60-day period yielded a convenience sample of 887 discharged cases from a suburban, U.S. hospital-based home health agency. Higher levels of RN continuity were associated with a decreased likelihood of neuro/emotional/behavioral issues for patients at discharge. The findings showed no relationship of RN continuity of care to functional status and use of emergent care for the period examined.