Readmission Varies With Discharge Setting for Adult Sepsis Survivors

THURSDAY, Sept. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- The risk for 30-day readmission is high for adult sepsis survivors discharged to skilled nursing facilities, home health care, and home, according to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of the American Journal of Critical Care.

Priscilla Hartley, D.N.P., R.N., from the College of Nursing at Augusta University in Athens, Georgia, and colleagues examined 30-day hospital readmission rates in adult sepsis survivors by discharge setting. The sample included 7,107 adults (mean age, 66.5 years).

The researchers found that 23.6 percent of the sample was readmitted within 30 days, and 30 percent of those readmitted were readmitted between one and three times. There were significant associations seen for discharge setting and age with readmission, but not for sex, ethnicity, and insurance type. Patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities, home health care, and home had high numbers of readmissions (29.6, 26.9, and 15.0 percent, respectively). Patients discharged to these settings had similar high comorbidity burden and acuteness of illness.

"Examining the origin of these readmissions builds evidence for developing and testing intervention strategies to close the gap between hospitals and all discharge settings," the authors write. "Critical care nurses, with their unique skill sets, are the ideal professionals to initiate impactful evidence-based discharge transition plans by identifying the highest-risk patients to facilitate discharge to the appropriate setting."

Abstract/Full Text