LAUSR

H ealth care organizations are engaging bedside nurses toreducehospital readmissions,yetundergraduate nursing curriculum may not prepare nurses to take an active role in readmission reduction. To improve health care delivery and unite quality care with hospital reimbursement, theCenters forMedicare&Medicaid Services (CMS) instituted the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), which decreases payments tohospitalswithhigherthanexpected30-dayhospitalreadmissions. Hospitals continue to face challenges with decreasing hospital readmissions, and experts stress the need to improve outcomes especially for patients with chronic conditions.Nurses are in a prime position to influence patient health outcomes, lead change, and participate in collaborative initiatives aimed at reducing readmissions and improving patient outcomes. In response to the need for nurses to understand components of readmission reduction, an innovative 2-part readmission root-cause analysis assignmentwas implemented in aprelicensure nursingprogram. This article describes the assignment aimed at teaching students the concept of root-cause readmission analysis and the interdisciplinary team's role in hospital readmission reduction.