Intr
Heart failure (HF) is a chronic and life-threatening disease which can be characterized with serious fatigue, dyspnea and deterioration of functional condition. Because of the life-threatening nature of the symptoms patients often apply to ER and referred to intensive care.
Aim
The aim of this study is the assessment of educational needs of HF patients in intensive care units.
Methods
A qualitative study to determine the experiences of the patients about their condition which affects the educational needs of the patients. The Data collected by individual in depth interview with 14 patients receiving treatment in the coroner intensive care unit are evaluated according to Colaizzi's phenomenological data analysis method.
Findings
Average age of the patients in this study is 69.21(43-80) and %64.3 of them are females. Of the patients who have participated in the study %30.8 of them have stage III, %69.2 of them have stage IV HF. After their diagnosis, patients have been in intensive care for an average of 6.7 ± 4.4 (1-16) times. Average time period for the disease is 9.4 ± 7.5 years. In this study 3 categories for the educational needs of the patients and in each category 4 themes have been determined.
Category 1: Themes related to the educational needs of patients about usage of drugs,
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(i)
effects of drugs and, their purpose,
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(ii)
side effects of drugs,
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(iii)
drug-drug and drug-food interaction,
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(iv)
reasons for changing drugs.
Category 2: Themes related with lifestyle changes
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(i)
Nutritional characteristics and reasons for salt restriction,
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(ii)
coping with the symptoms of fatigue and weariness, planning the activities,
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(iii)
regulation of sleep
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(iv)
coping with stress.
Category 3: Themes about the educational needs of the patients related to the characteristics of the disease,
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(i)
prognosis of the disease, meaning and interpretation of the tests,
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(ii)
warning signs of the disease,
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(iii)
compliance with limitations,
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(iv)
control of the symptoms.
Results
In this study HF patients stated that they mainly need information about the effects and purposes of the drugs they used. The need for information about the management of the symptoms that affect daily activities are considered 2nd and the educational needs about the disease itself are considered 3rd in importance.
References
Kim SS, Ahn JA, Kang SM, Kim G, Lee S: Learning needs of patients with heart failure a descriptive, exploratory study. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2012, 22: 661-668.
Davidson P, Cockburn J, Daly J, Fisher RS: Patient-centered Needs Assessment: Rationale for a Psychometric Measure for Assessing Needs in Heart Failure. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. 2004, 19 (3): 164-171.
Yum , Chair SY, Chan CWH, Li X, Choi KC: Perceived learning needs of patients with heart failure in China: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Contemporary Nurse. 2012, 41 (1): 70-77.
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Kiliç, B., Sütçü Çiçek, H. Assessment of educational needs of heart failure patients in intensive care units: qualitative study. ICMx 3 (Suppl 1), A208 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/2197-425X-3-S1-A208
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/2197-425X-3-S1-A208
Keywords
- Heart Failure
- Intensive Care Unit
- Functional Condition
- Qualitative Study
- Daily Activity